Dec 3 Reflection Comments

[richard1s]

A few quick thoughts and observations about our recent Western Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Reflection.

 

Miami Embarkation: we arrived at the pier about 11:45 AM and were onboard, welcome cocktail in hand, in about 5 to 10 minutes. The process seemed very organized.

 

Cabin: our (S1) Sky Suite # 2165 was available about 1:00 PM. The room was immaculately maintained and in beautiful condition. We were a little concerned about this cabin after reading a review that stated “avoid at all cost” because of noise. But our experience was quite different and we found it very quiet and peaceful. The location of the room and the proximity to the elevators allows you get almost anywhere on the ship pretty quickly.

Service; our cabin was kept meticulously clean all week. Our butler (Arun) was so helpful, professional and sweet. He delivered breakfast on time every morning and attended to our modest needs very capably.

 

Throughout the ship, most service was very good to excellent. The only exception was some of the bar service, in particular the Sunset Bar. To me, it seemed the bartenders tried too hard to be amusing; I thought the service was really poor. Bar service in Michael’s Club however is outstanding.

 

Dinning - always a subjective topic. While on board, we ate lunch daily at the Aqua Spa; not sure if this is really a “healthy alternative” but AS is still one of our favorite venues for a light lunch. I love the gazpacho and chicken salad. We had two dinners at the Tuscan Grill (very good) and the rest of the week, we dined at Luminae.

 

We are big fans of the latter venue; we appreciate the intimate atmosphere, attentive service and the high food quality. But I wish they had more menu selections; however you can pretty much get anything, within reason, from any of the other dinning menus. The service in Luminae is superior in every way. This is a great concept and I believe that expanding the menu is under consideration.

 

And let me say a final word about Sushi on Five. If you are a fan of this type of food then you are in for a real treat. The presentation, food, service, quality and selection of sake are really outstanding. I truly enjoyed my daily mid-afternoon visit and I was always warmly greeted and felt very welcomed. I cannot say enough good things about this restaurant.

 

Dis-embarkation – really nicely managed and organized. Our group (2) was called about 7:15AM and we were thru MIA security by 7:45.

 

Some additional highlights of this cruise:

 

WIFI – this was offered for the entire week as an incentive and I found it more than adequate for my needs.

 

Entertainment – we tried a few production shows but I guess that we have been on too many cruises and we are a little jaded. We always sit in the balcony last row so we can slip out quietly, which we did for the few shows we started but chose not to finish. The one exception for us was a performance by the Beatle tribute band “Hard Day’s Night”. We enjoyed their performance in the theater as well as the centrum the following night. They were really good and had the music and nuances down almost to perfection. The house dance band was also pretty good.

 

Fellow Passengers – Celebrity hits it out the park attracting a great demographic cross section. There is a great energy to every Celebrity cruise we have been on and this sailing was no exception.

 

Casino – we received a generous OBC as an incentive when we booked and we used it for our gaming. You cannot convert the OBC to cash but you can use it for promotional table chips or add it to your card for play in machines. Any winnings are paid in regular chips or machine tickets, which can be converted to cash at the cashier. We were able to convert roughly 75% of our OBC thru play. Casino was fun, dealers were well trained and machine payouts (especially video poker) were pretty good. Best of all, the casino is totally smoke free.

 

This was probably our best cruise of the many we have experienced. It is hard not to have a great time on Celebrity!

 

If you are booked on Reflection, you’re in for a treat.

[Ember56]

Nice review! Thanks. We are Sky Suite on Eclipse in Jan, based on previous cruises, agree with your opinions. Feel the same regarding the Sunset bar... Service there pretty mediocre in general. Like Luminae a lot, have taken excellent care of my wife (gluten / celiac issues). Entertainment uneven, fellow passengers a good group for the most part (can't love everyone...)

 

 

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[Jim_Iain]

Thanks for your positive review. It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[BonPecheur]

A few quick thoughts and observations about our recent Western Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Reflection.

 

Thank You for the review ! What if any excursions did you do ?

[easyboy]

Glad you had a great time. Thanks for your feedback.

[richard1s]

Thank You for the review ! What if any excursions did you do ?

No excursions really. We have been to Cozumel and Cayman many times and now enjoy a visit to town and a nice lunch at one of our favorite places from previous visits. In Cozumel, that includes a visit to Poncho’s Backyard. Poncho’s has great food, marimba music and a great tropical ambiance. There is a nice gift shop next door.

 

We hadn’t been to Labadee since our first cruise in 2001 and we were really pleased with this stop. It has been nicely developed and for suite guests, there is a really nice private beach (Barefoot Beach) that serves a terrific lunch. It was easy to find a comfy lounger with plenty of shade and great drink service.

 

This was our first visit to Falmouth and we were disappointed with this port. We hired a private tour that lasted about 90 minutes but it wasn’t worth the money ($50); we felt that there just isn’t anything of interest to see. Within the port area, it might make a little sense to develop a few restaurants that offer local flavors instead of the ubiquitous “Margaritaville”.

[Longboysfan]

Thanks for your positive review. It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

 

Jim: With the B2B cruises - a month on board?

 

How much do you pack and or are you using the Celebrity laundry services?

[marieps]

Thanks for a very positive review. Sailing Reflection Jan 7. Looking forward to it all the more.

[Lastdance]

Thanks so much for your review and sharing of details. We are in an S1 corner aft for a TA this April. I am so excited to cross the Atlantic with all the sea days,ending up in one of our most favorite cities...Rome! I was so happy to hear that your room was immaculate and your many positive comments about the Reflection. Getting to the ship from almost the west coast is my biggest concern. Once we arrive at our hotel the night before, I will be so relieved. Boarding the ship is my absolute favorite time. We like to arrive early and it was good to here about the ease of the port of Miami, although since we are a TA, it may provide us with a little more issues, but that will be handled by me without stress...the more resilient you are the better all around, especially when you have no control over the issues. Again, that's for the detailed remarks about your cruise on the Reflection! Happy Holidays!!

 

 

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[fielddreamer]

We were on the cruise also and enjoyed it so much we booked a 10 day Dec 8 2017! The real treat was we met the lady captain of the Summit who was on her way home with her husband and cat. She happens to leave in the same area as us !

[Welland]

A few quick thoughts and observations about our recent Western Caribbean cruise on Celebrity Reflection.

 

 

Casino – we received a generous OBC as an incentive when we booked and we used it for our gaming. You cannot convert the OBC to cash but you can use it for promotional table chips or add it to your card for play in machines. Any winnings are paid in regular chips or machine tickets, which can be converted to cash at the cashier. We were able to convert roughly 75% of our OBC thru play. Casino was fun, dealers were well trained and machine payouts (especially video poker) were pretty good. Best of all, the casino is totally smoke free.

 

Can you please provide more info on the OBC being loaded to your sea pass card to play the casino machines. Does this mean if you have a $250 OBC and only play machines for a total of $75 that the remaining balance will show on your card and be refunded in machine tickets which can be turned into cash.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

[richard1s]

Can you please provide more info on the OBC being loaded to your sea pass card to play the casino machines. Does this mean if you have a $250 OBC and only play machines for a total of $75 that the remaining balance will show on your card and be refunded in machine tickets which can be turned into cash.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

No, the simple answer is that you cannot convert OBC to cash. As far as casino use, you can use some to all for it for casino play but only your winnings can be converted to cash. In a machine, the OBC stays in the "bank" on your card until it is used up or your winnings exceed the amount of the bank. I found that smaller increments of $20 to $40 worked best for the machines. For table play, if you play $10 in the promotional chips and win a BJ hand for example, you will be paid $10 in regular chips. You have to keep playing the promotional chips and eventually they will likley be replaced by regular chips if you win, which you can then cash in. It may sound more complicated than it actually is but as I mentioned, we used OBC almost exclusively for gambling and converted about 75% to cash thru this process.

[H2OH!]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! we are on her end of January and again in 2018 for greek islands and Italy.

 

glad to hear cabin 2165 was not as noisy as reported. we booked 2160 and 2162 for the greek islands.

[richard1s]

 

Dis-embarkation – really nicely managed and organized. Our group (2) was called about 7:15AM and we were thru MIA security by 7:45.

 

I wanted to clarify this statement in my original comments. We were called at 7:15 AM (group 2) and we cleared security at the airport in Miami by 7:45 AM. So in that half hour, we claimed our luggage, got thru port security, took a taxi to the airport and cleared security there too. it was all very fast and efficient.

[emmabob]

Great reviews. We will be on Reflection this Saturday 12/24 for Christmas leaving from Miami. Very excited!!

 

 

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[crusinthrough]

 

This was our first visit to Falmouth and we were disappointed with this port. We hired a private tour that lasted about 90 minutes but it wasn’t worth the money ($50); we felt that there just isn’t anything of interest to see. Within the port area, it might make a little sense to develop a few restaurants that offer local flavors instead of the ubiquitous “Margaritaville”.

 

There are at least two places in the port that sell local cuisine. One is a stand that sells beef patties and the other is a restaurant.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review and yes X entertainment is poor.

[Welland]

 

No, the simple answer is that you cannot convert OBC to cash. As far as casino use, you can use some to all for it for casino play but only your winnings can be converted to cash. In a machine, the OBC stays in the "bank" on your card until it is used up or your winnings exceed the amount of the bank. I found that smaller increments of $20 to $40 worked best for the machines. For table play, if you play $10 in the promotional chips and win a BJ hand for example, you will be paid $10 in regular chips. You have to keep playing the promotional chips and eventually they will likley be replaced by regular chips if you win, which you can then cash in. It may sound more complicated than it actually is but as I mentioned, we used OBC almost exclusively for gambling and converted about 75% to cash thru this process.

 

Thanks for your response. I never play tables and if I use the casino it is the machines. Chances of me winning are slim to none. Oh well. :-) :-)