Celebrity Reflection Live 11/20/16

[cruisintwinsmom]

So I will keep the details coming but I'm not really sure if I'm posting these updates correctly. Not sure if I just keep adding to the thread or if I should start a new one each time. Suggestions?

Cheers!

Christina

 

Thank you for posting. Personally, I would prefer you to just add to the thread. :D

[levramosis]

So I will keep the details coming but I'm not really sure if I'm posting these updates correctly. Not sure if I just keep adding to the thread or if I should start a new one each time. Suggestions?

Cheers!

Christina

 

Keep posting in the one thread. It would be crazy if every update were another thread! Plus that's what everyone else with a live update does.

 

Have you seen any advertisements for lunch @ the Lawn Club? Cost?

 

According to seadog's live review, lunch at LCG is $10/pp so I'm not sure if they are going to discount that or if it even really matters.

[thon]

 

So I will keep the details coming but I'm not really sure if I'm posting these updates correctly. Not sure if I just keep adding to the thread or if I shhould start a new one each time. Suggestions?

Cheers!

Christina

I second the motion to keep all your posts in the same thread. Easier for us all to follow along - which is what I'll be doing. So thanks for providing this ongoing report.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Good morning all,

 

Lord knows I have never gotten up so early while on vacation but we are booked on an excursion that leaves from the Reflection theater at 7:30, YIKES but the early rise was worth the show of pulling into Cozumel. Our excursion: Secret River and Playa del Carmen...."a life-changing experience" This excursion gets good reviews on Cruise Critic and costs $87 PP...only negative so far is the early departure.

 

Speaking of negatives, I don't really like to dwell on them, especially while on vacation..so I won't. But here's a few observations that may help for future cruises:

 

1. Our stateroom gets hot at night. Both nights I've had to remove all the covers. I'm seriously thinking about bringing a portable fan next time...

2. Evening chic really isn't. The hubby and I got dressed up last night but we were among the minority. He wore slacks and a sports coat and I wore a LBD.

3. We will avoid Lumane at the 8:00 hour...they got a little frazzled by the number of people who showed up to eat at that time.

4. My new favorite predinner bar is the World Bar...its really awesome.

5. The clothing in the gift shops is reasonably priced. Men's wear included Nautica that was all on sale for 25% off.

 

Well must run to get ready for our 7:30 departure. Keep your questions coming..I will try to get the answers for you.

Cheers!

Christina

[Georgia_Peaches]

Greeting!

 

I write this from my Sky suite balcony with a coffee and danish in hand. Waters are choppy and there's a good deal of wind. The captain hasn't called off Grand Cayman yet but he might before too long. Apparently, there's a storm brewing somewhere in the Caribbean.

 

So let me fill you in the the Cozumel day. We rarely do an organized excursion opting to go it on our own but Cozumel was different because we've been there many times. We opted for the Secret River and shopping in Playa Del Carmen. What a great experience! The only bad part was getting to Playa Del Carmen...a 45 minute ferry ride. And that's not usually so bad but like today, yesterday's waters were very choppy. We sat on the lower level which was inside and stuffy. After about 25 minutes of the choppy ride, a symphony of up-chuckers could be heard through out the boat. I myself, lost my breakfast into a bag they passed out to everyone.

What a way to begin!

 

Once off the boat we were met by Carlos who guided us to the secret under ground river system. We were given water shoes and snorkeling gear to use inside the caves. Carlos explained the history as we explored. It was truly amazing...water was cold at 73 degrees F. After the tour we were treated to a traditional Mayan lunch alongside the water in one of the caves. Lunch was great but I was a bit tentative considering I had a ferry ride back to contend with.

We did a little shopping on famous 5th street and then made our way into a beach side bar for some authentic chips and salsa and cold beers. It was a great venue to people watch and the ocean was stunning. BTW and FYI, we took advantage of the many pharmacys along the way to stock up on some antibiotics. I like to have them on hand, just in case. Got 90 count Amoxicillin 500mg for 18 bucks a bottle.

Our tour group was led by Carlos back to the pier where we boarded the dreaded ferry. This time we sat upstairs in the open air. It didn't seem as bad up there and fortunately, there was no more vomiting. However, our ferry full of Celebrity passengers was almost an hour late returning to the boat. Fortunately, since is was a Celebrity excursion, they waited for us.

 

Evening entertainment included silent disco in Cellar Masters or Tenors of Rock in the Reflection Theater. There was also live music in the Grand Foyer. We passed on the Tenors of Rock and people watched in the silent disco venue. Great fun!

 

Dinner in Lumane was quite good but I have to say, we both ordered from the MDR menu. Tonight we will try Murano.

 

We are supposed to tendar at 10 am. If that happens, we will check out Grand Cayman via bicycles. Gotta find some way to burn some calories.

 

Cheers,

Christina

Edited November 22, 2016 by Georgia_Peaches

[Georgia_Peaches]

I second the motion to keep all your posts in the same thread. Easier for us all to follow along - which is what I'll be doing. So thanks for providing this ongoing report.

 

Ok, got it. Thank you! Have now put everything in one place.

[cruisingagentone]

Tell your cabin steward about the cabin heating up at night and they will adjust it. My sister and I were just on the Reflection and had the same problem after we talked to the steward we never had another problem very cold. Also make sure your balcony door is locked if it isn't the air stops running.

[fielddreamer]

We are on in 10 days. Hope you make Grand Caymen today !

[BDL]

We are on deck 12 in room 2116. It is not far from the sundries. This is the 2nd time we've stayed in this room and I've never heard a thing. I know this is not the case for those who have staterooms under the pool deck areas. I was a little worried the first time we stayed in the room but found it to be quiet enough to book it again. I think you will be fine.

 

Thank you! Good to hear. :)

[egfel]

HI everyone from a freezing cold toronto

 

Our group is leaving Toronto in 10 days and we will be boarding the cruise the next day. I cant wait. Looking forward to meeting all of you and here's to a great cruise.

Thanks to all that have given us some terrific insite to Reflection and its restaurants etc.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Ok, well here's an update over the last 24 hours on what might be one of the most out of sync experiences I've ever had on a cruise.

 

So it started with Grand Cayman...we tendered and made our way to shore. No issues. As a suite guest you get priority tendering so we went to Michael's club and were escorted to the tender line. Water was choppy but we managed and the trip time was pretty short. Grand Cayman was a nice port in that there weren't tons of locals trying to entice you into their tour bus...they were there but just not so in-your-face as other ports. We booked a bicycle excursion independent of the ship and that's where the days takes a turn. My husband has advised me that he doesn't want me to write anything that hurts the guy's business and for the record, that's not my intention. But I feel I owe it other other cruise fans to at least present the facts. So here goes...we reserved bikes with a private company called West Bay Bikes. The owner, I'll call him Gerry bc I can't remember his name, picked us up in front of the Dairy Queen and drove us to the biking location (about 10 miles away from port). The idea was to rent the bikes and do the West Bay loop around the island. This was appealing to us because we do a lot of biking. So, Gerry presented us with a little local history as he drove us to the bike stand. This was interesting. Once arrived, Gerry requested payment of $45 pp...cash. His cash only policy wasn't posted on his website. We had exactly $82 bucks on us combined...ok, our bad for not taking more cash. Gerry accepted our $82 in lieu of the $90. He then told us about the route and the points of interest. We were issued single speed bikes that frankly, had seen better days. He told us to be back by 4 PM so he could drive us back to port. We left his bike stand at 11:30. By 1 PM we were finished. We ate some lunch and had a few beers at the beach bar next door to kill a little time. Gerry appeared around 1:45 and I inquired about being taken back to port before 4 PM. He refused saying that he had other bikers in the area making it impossible for him to leave. He also informed me that he wasn't a taxi service and that I should wait until 4 PM. Here's where I got testy. I didn't want to wait until 4. I was done and wanted to head back to town. There were no taxis to be found and frankly, we were out of money. I didn't really appreciate HIM telling ME how to spend my time. Again, I understand his concern about having bikers in the area. I'm not unreasonable. But I think Gerry could have done a better job informing potential customers about the fine details associated with renting bikes from him...ie cash only, and return to port time being inflexible. Ultimately, we called for a local cab to take us back to port and fortunately, like most businesses these days, the driver accepted plastic. Not sure I would recommend West Bay Bikes to my friends...even though the scenery was nice.

 

Back on the ship, I made my way to the Persian Gardens to relax from the stress of the day only to be interrupted by a facial attendant who wanted to do a consultation for me. I wasn't opposed to talking to the lady, just not while I was snoozing on the heated bed. It was a little awkward they way she walked around the room calling out my name until I finally raised my hand letting her know my location. For a minute there, I thought I had won a prize.

 

Evening entertainment in the Reflection theater was a show called MAXX about a guy trapped in a digital age. It was horrendous with the exception of the acrobatics they managed to work into the story line. I'd skip this for another venue.

 

The icing on the cake was when we returned to our stateroom to be informed that "veranda maintenance" was scheduled for our balcony at 8:30 AM the next morning. Uhh, I don't think so. I called guest services and requested that the maintain somewhere else. We already shceduled our breakfastto be deliverd during that time and weren't really interested in having that time interrupted. They obliged. It was just a weird ending to a weird day.

 

Today's scheduled visit into Falmouth was diverted due to strong winds and very choppy seas. So we have a bonus sea day. We are Ok with the change in plans but I know that some were disappointed. Despite the unexpected sea day, chairs in the solarium were still pretty easy to snag. The ship personnel are working hard to make sure everyone has a good time today and even though yesterday was a little off, I still greatly appreciate Celebrity and will no doubt continue being a loyal patron of their ships.

 

Guess it'd time for a cocktail...

Christina

[hcat]

Hope better days ahead on your cruise. We once booked a day pass online for Hotel Cozumel....on arrival they infirmed us they expected cash..we scraped it together with just enough for a taxi back to ship later in the day....We concluded we are better off with cruise line excursions.

 

I am curious...Can you tell me if they are keeping the Solarium pool as hot as the hot tubs?

 

On our recent Infinity cruise it was set at 105 deg..same as hot tubs...not fun for dunking, elevates blood pressure and maybe not very healthy! They also had a family hr in the afterrnoon...water was way too hot for children in my opinion

[Georgia_Peaches]

Hope better days ahead on your cruise. We once booked a day pass online for Hotel Cozumel....on arrival they infirmed us they expected cash..we scraped it together with just enough for a taxi back to ship later in the day....We concluded we are better off with cruise line excursions.

 

I am curious...Can you tell me if they are keeping the Solarium pool as hot as the hot tubs?

 

On our recent Infinity cruise it was set at 105 deg..same as hot tubs...not fun for dunking, elevates blood pressure and maybe not very healthy! They also had a family hr in the afterrnoon...water was way too hot for children in my opinion

 

I have been in the solarium pool and it feels nice...about 85 degrees, I'd say. The hot tub is much warmer.

[Coochuck]

Quickie question. Does the ship broadcast Monday Night Football in a particular bar or on the Big Screen up on deck? Will be on the Reflection next week and want to watch the Eagles/Packers game.

 

 

Thanks

[riclop]

Thanks for sharing.

[Georgia_Peaches]

Quickie question. Does the ship broadcast Monday Night Football in a particular bar or on the Big Screen up on deck? Will be on the Reflection next week and want to watch the Eagles/Packers game.

 

 

Thanks

 

Your best bet for the game is in the casino bar. My hubby will be there tonight watching HIS Steelers. There is also a sports channel on the stateroom TV but the specific games a hit and miss.

[Georgia_Peaches]

So yesterday was our anniversary and we thought we'd give Murano a try. Prior to Murano we had tried both Lawn Club and Tuscan Grille. Originally we were told that Murano was completely booked but we tried back several times during the day and eventually snagged a 9:30 reservation. We were actually seated at about 9:10. There have been many, many reviews of this venue and they are arguably mixed because dining experiences are all subjective. My humble review:

1. The atmosphere gets a 10 out of 10. The place has an old world charm sort of feel with paneled walls and heavy furniture. It was very intimate and "felt" high-end.

2. The menu was interesting in that it is broken into two options, one is a 5 course meal with wine pairings for an additional $89 pp fee on top of the $50 PP fee just to walk in the door. The other option is Al la Carte like all the other menus except it doesn't have the wine pairing. We went with the Al la carte menu and ordered a bottle of red at a 20% discount.

Appetizer: Goat cheese souffle and a scallop wellington. Both were delicious.

Main: Chateaubriand for two prepared table side. What this really means is that they cooked it in the kitchen and wheel it out on a cart and cut it for you table side. I had mine with the Cabernet sauce which was very good. The side included root vegetables.

3. Cheese course: they offered a variety of cheeses both hard and soft on a cart that was wheeled to our table. Unfortunately, our dinner time was so late that the cheese options were mostly gone. We did try one type that was quite good.

4. Dessert: dark chocolate souffle and coffee

 

Over all I would give the meal a 7 for taste and a little less for value. The food was a step up from the MDR but not necessarily worth the additional up charge. One very nice thing they did for us was make us a special anniversary dessert that came to our table under a dome. Since we were both stuffed, they had it boxed and sent to our stateroom. The sentiment was very nice and worth the additional tip that we left for the staff. I'm glad we tried Murano because now it's out of my system.

 

Today is beach day in Labadee but right now it is raining. I hope all you folks booked on the next cruise have better luck with the weather.

Christina

[Z3RACERGIRL]

Thanks for taking us along, Christina. Did you attend any shows? Feedback? I'm excited to check out the casino and the world class bar as well! Less than two weeks now!

 

 

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[BRIFRO]

Thanks for taking us along, Christina. Did you attend any shows? Feedback? I'm excited to check out the casino and the world class bar as well! Less than two weeks now!

 

 

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Sailing December 24th, could you please tell me upon what deck do we enter the Reflection from @ the Miami terminal? always best regards, BRIFRO

[Texed]

Sailing December 24th, could you please tell me upon what deck do we enter the Reflection from @ the Miami terminal? always best regards, BRIFRO

 

Deck 5. :)

[bertrande]

Thank you for your review! We have just booked our first cruise on the Reflection in an S1 and this is very handy. A couple of questions - I noticed you asked your cabin steward to look at discounts for specialty dining. Did he success to get you a discount? And is this usually what you would ask the butler to do instead of the cabin steward? We get confused as to the duties of these two staff and to whom we should direct requests such as this.

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[florisdekort]

Thank you for your review! We have just booked our first cruise on the Reflection in an S1 and this is very handy. A couple of questions - I noticed you asked your cabin steward to look at discounts for specialty dining. Did he success to get you a discount? And is this usually what you would ask the butler to do instead of the cabin steward? We get confused as to the duties of these two staff and to whom we should direct requests such as this.

 

 

 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

 

 

I would never ask the cabin steward to do any such thing. It's not his/her job, they're very busy already and they might be afraid to say "no" (or fear not being successful) for possibly getting a bad review or lose gratuity. It puts them in a very awkward position. In a Suite, I could ask the butler to make specially reservations, but find it much faster and efficient to do it myself upon boarding. I would never ask anyone to haggle for discounts on my behalf; that's tacky. If I want to try and negotiate discounts, I do it myself.

 

 

 

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[thomasale]

Georgia Peaches, we were on the same cruise. It was our 40th anniv cruise. I have published my review with Cruise Critic and it will be up after they ok it. We gave the cruise an 8 out of 10 and unfortunately it is our lowest cruise score ever. Not what we had anticipated for our group. We went to Muranos as a group and were split in 2 tables. Beautiful venue, food was delivered at different times and some not properly at all. 3 of us had Lobster and frankly it was rubbery and overdone at the table. We were never offered the cheese plate just lots of little things that to me added up to a sour experience and one that we all paid a premium for.

 

I am including for you info the comments section that we put on Celebrity survey. I am going to be watching things here on CC to see if any changes take place. In the meantime we have a European River Cruise we are looking at for the summer and a Trip on Freedom of the Seas that we have done several times in the past. Hopefully that will get the sour taste out of our mouth.

 

Sent to Celebrity with our survey:

 

"Our Room Steward was outstanding and pleasant, Room 6129. We had Luis, Horas and Ishmael in the select dining area. Luis and Horas are both a credit to dining and to Celebrity. They were personable, engaging, helpful and were delighted to be taking care of us and our every need. The assistant waiters were learning from your finest and were on their ways to becoming just as their mentors were! Ishmael we only had one experience with and would not prefer to have another. Our group numbered 13 and when we requested select dining back on our original booking we should have been guided to choose traditional dining. Our first night was difficult and even after reserving on subsequent nights, it was NEVER any better. We were advised that we needed to make a reservation within 24 hours each day when dining. There were only 2 times offered for our booking either 5:45 or 8:00...not much of a selection. we opted for the 5:45 time and once we knew what was being offered (time wise) we would have liked to make a standing reservation for the same time and table for the balance of the cruise. We were flatly advised that was NOT possible. Each day we would struggle to make the SAME reservation. We finally would make the reservation and when we showed up promptly at our reserved time, each time we were treated brusquely and were treated as a hassle instead of as welcome guests. The host on the starboard side was offensive at best, and downright rude to my wife and the other ladies (my sisters) we were traveling with. He simply has no place in that position and if he retains employment it should only be in a place that has NO contact with the passengers. It was always as if it was the first time he had ever seen a group of 13, had no idea we were coming (even though we had our reservation made each day) and really just wishes we would not show up at all!

 

The next area of concern and really one that sets an extremely bad tone for the cruise is the HARD sell on the drink packages. Really, it colors so much of what we felt as passengers, and it doesn't color it pretty. First when you get on and take your champagne, the assault begins and for the next 2 days if you dare to ask for a drink you best be ready to stand your ground, for they are coming at you hard. Please, offer a wrist band to those who have already decided, so that the dogs can move on to another target! I purchase what I want, when I want it and don't care about the cost involved. It has always worked for me in the past and if I wanted a booze cruise I wouldn't have picked Celebrity in the first place! After 2 days it finally dissipates, but we were so worn out, we all needed a drink by then. On to problem number 2. You can't get one! Used to be there were cocktail servers in colorful Hawaiian shirts all over the place with beautiful drinks and voices advising you of their wares...no longer...they are gone because once they have sold you a package the way Celebrity has decided to win on the deal is to make drinks difficult to get. And difficult it is. At the bar 2 bartenders and 4-5 patrons deep...IF the bar is open at all! The first 2 nights at dinner no one asked if we wanted anything other than water. The Sommelier was there but some of us like a cocktail before eating and enjoying our wine with dinner. Pretty poor in my opinion. Gone are the days of drink servers hustling to take care of the passengers (and make tips for themselves) and here are the days of "unlimited drink packages" that you CAN'T exercise because Celebrity has chosen to control the availability of alcohol...

 

In conclusion, Celebrity has chosen a foolish way to push us onto other cruise lines. If I am going to be treated this way by the line I used to call my favorite, I am going where the entertainment and venues offer more colorful and exciting packages along with the drinks. Too bad for your decisions. Reflection is a beautiful ship with great Stewards and servers and food but that does not overcome a bad cruise director, bad drink policies and sad "entertainment"...the comedian was fantastic for the record! You are in a competitive business and unfortunately have fallen short in such foolish ways. I will continue to monitor things on Cruise Forums and hope to see some changes soon that will bring me back for what we came to Celebrity for, Premium Cruising at competitive prices."

[hbe]

Ok, well here's an update over the last 24 hours on what might be one of the most out of sync experiences I've ever had on a cruise.

 

So it started with Grand Cayman...we tendered and made our way to shore. No issues. As a suite guest you get priority tendering so we went to Michael's club and were escorted to the tender line. Water was choppy but we managed and the trip time was pretty short. Grand Cayman was a nice port in that there weren't tons of locals trying to entice you into their tour bus...they were there but just not so in-your-face as other ports. We booked a bicycle excursion independent of the ship and that's where the days takes a turn. My husband has advised me that he doesn't want me to write anything that hurts the guy's business and for the record, that's not my intention. But I feel I owe it other other cruise fans to at least present the facts. So here goes...we reserved bikes with a private company called West Bay Bikes. The owner, I'll call him Gerry bc I can't remember his name, picked us up in front of the Dairy Queen and drove us to the biking location (about 10 miles away from port). The idea was to rent the bikes and do the West Bay loop around the island. This was appealing to us because we do a lot of biking. So, Gerry presented us with a little local history as he drove us to the bike stand. This was interesting. Once arrived, Gerry requested payment of $45 pp...cash. His cash only policy wasn't posted on his website. We had exactly $82 bucks on us combined...ok, our bad for not taking more cash. Gerry accepted our $82 in lieu of the $90. He then told us about the route and the points of interest. We were issued single speed bikes that frankly, had seen better days. He told us to be back by 4 PM so he could drive us back to port. We left his bike stand at 11:30. By 1 PM we were finished. We ate some lunch and had a few beers at the beach bar next door to kill a little time. Gerry appeared around 1:45 and I inquired about being taken back to port before 4 PM. He refused saying that he had other bikers in the area making it impossible for him to leave. He also informed me that he wasn't a taxi service and that I should wait until 4 PM. Here's where I got testy. I didn't want to wait until 4. I was done and wanted to head back to town. There were no taxis to be found and frankly, we were out of money. I didn't really appreciate HIM telling ME how to spend my time. Again, I understand his concern about having bikers in the area. I'm not unreasonable. But I think Gerry could have done a better job informing potential customers about the fine details associated with renting bikes from him...ie cash only, and return to port time being inflexible. Ultimately, we called for a local cab to take us back to port and fortunately, like most businesses these days, the driver accepted plastic. Not sure I would recommend West Bay Bikes to my friends...even though the scenery was nice.

 

Back on the ship, I made my way to the Persian Gardens to relax from the stress of the day only to be interrupted by a facial attendant who wanted to do a consultation for me. I wasn't opposed to talking to the lady, just not while I was snoozing on the heated bed. It was a little awkward they way she walked around the room calling out my name until I finally raised my hand letting her know my location. For a minute there, I thought I had won a prize.

 

Evening entertainment in the Reflection theater was a show called MAXX about a guy trapped in a digital age. It was horrendous with the exception of the acrobatics they managed to work into the story line. I'd skip this for another venue.

 

The icing on the cake was when we returned to our stateroom to be informed that "veranda maintenance" was scheduled for our balcony at 8:30 AM the next morning. Uhh, I don't think so. I called guest services and requested that the maintain somewhere else. We already shceduled our breakfastto be deliverd during that time and weren't really interested in having that time interrupted. They obliged. It was just a weird ending to a weird day.

 

Today's scheduled visit into Falmouth was diverted due to strong winds and very choppy seas. So we have a bonus sea day. We are Ok with the change in plans but I know that some were disappointed. Despite the unexpected sea day, chairs in the solarium were still pretty easy to snag. The ship personnel are working hard to make sure everyone has a good time today and even though yesterday was a little off, I still greatly appreciate Celebrity and will no doubt continue being a loyal patron of their ships.

 

Guess it'd time for a cocktail...

Christina

 

Hi Christina,

I was wondering if they had a special boarding area for suite guests returning from Grand Cayman to the ship.

[jillyalex]

I'm excited to follow your reports. We will be on her on Dec 10th! Which deck are you on with the Sky Suite? We'll be in one on 12 under the Sundries Shop so we're hoping there won't be any noise at night.

Hi there,

 

We're staying in room 2124 on the reflection which is right below the sundries shop. Is it quiet? Did you like the room? thanks so much, Jill