Reflection Review 12/17thru12/24

[cruisehome]

interesting

[luv2camp04]

GTXL1200, thanks for your review. I found it to be helpful and humorous. The funny think is, as I was reading it, you reminded me a little of us regarding some of these things. When I read that you are also an RV'er, I realized why. We also are RV'ers and for that last 5 or 6 years, we have taken a cruise in winter to escape the dark, gray, wet, cold Pacific Northwest. As someone who loves taking our RV camping, we are used to doing our own cooking, driving, cleaning, while on vacation or long weekends. When I get on a cruise ship, my expectations are not elevated. But I love that I don't have to do anything for a week. Someone cooks for me (whether it's great food or marginal) I didn't have to prepare it or clean up after it. If I have to wait a bit for a drink because a few hundred of my closest friends also want a drink, well so be it. I'm on vacation and I'm not mixing it. As you, we are not Zenith extra plus, we don't book Suites (but we do want a balcony!) and if things aren't perfect, it's ok.

 

We have seen a bit of a decline in service and amenities on Celebrity since our first cruise in 2011. It's still a wonderful cruise line and I'm taken well care of during my week. As you say, it's all subjective.

 

We are looking forward to our first time on Reflection at the end of February. Therefore, thanks for your review. And also, I can't wait to take our motorhome out again!!! Even winter camping is better than no camping!!

 

Kelly

[traveller]

We were on her the week of 12/3 and had a 1A on deck 9 hump with the bigger balcony. The cabin was the best we have had. I loved the ship so much we booked Dec 8 2017 for 10 days Southern in Aqua this time. I had the same experience as you in the MDR and select dinning. We noticed the same as you about filling the table first before taking our orders. The big difference we had is we ate only twice for dinner and had the same table and staff and they were terrible. We did Spec. dinning 4 nights and we loved every room we ate in.I agree with you about the other items like the pool and the service on the ship ! We miss it already ! Bob

 

Bob,

I just spoke to Celebrity..they explained the pkgs to me as follows: you pay for pkg and make reservation when you get ON THE SHIP...what if they don't have a time available that you want and the restaurant selection that you want?

 

I prebooked the MURANO for one nite since it is our anniversary...I know the 1st nite on board, all specialty restaurants are 50% off..

I wanted to do the 3 nite pkg but if I don't know where and what time I am dining, what good is that? I am a person who likes to plan everything out..

 

Help please...

Thx

Andrea

[fielddreamer]

Bob,

I just spoke to Celebrity..they explained the pkgs to me as follows: you pay for pkg and make reservation when you get ON THE SHIP...what if they don't have a time available that you want and the restaurant selection that you want?

 

I prebooked the MURANO for one nite since it is our anniversary...I know the 1st nite on board, all specialty restaurants are 50% off..

I wanted to do the 3 nite pkg but if I don't know where and what time I am dining, what good is that? I am a person who likes to plan everything out..

 

Help please...

Thx

Andrea

The first night on our cruise was 30%. I guess it varies from week to week. They did not offer a 3 nite pkg on our cruise in Dec. Now everything is different starting the 1st. In reading the rules it looks like they book the first time for you weather its the 1st night or 2nd night. If you book dinner by dinner on your own it will cost you more {not that much}and you will find that all times are open to you since you are paying the normal amount. I booked all four nights seperate and got all the times I wanted which was 7:00 p.m. and it worked out great for us . Most of the shows for later in the evening started around 9 p.m. . You will find Murano is the best choice but all are very good. Quine was really good for a fusion type meal which I had never done until them. Feel free to ask me more ! Bob

[fielddreamer]

The first night on our cruise was 30%. I guess it varies from week to week. They did not offer a 3 nite pkg on our cruise in Dec. Now everything is different starting the 1st. In reading the rules it looks like they book the first time for you weather its the 1st night or 2nd night. If you book dinner by dinner on your own it will cost you more {not that much}and you will find that all times are open to you since you are paying the normal amount. I booked all four nights seperate and got all the times I wanted which was 7:00 p.m. and it worked out great for us . Most of the shows for later in the evening started around 9 p.m. . You will find Murano is the best choice but all are very good. Quine was really good for a fusion type meal which I had never done until them. Feel free to ask me more ! Bob

I forgot to tell you that around the 4 month period before you sale they ran a 20% sale on all dinning and shore excursions which I took advantage of on the meal side and one excursion ! Bob

[traveller]

I forgot to tell you that around the 4 month period before you sale they ran a 20% sale on all dinning and shore excursions which I took advantage of on the meal side and one excursion ! Bob

 

Bob- so you did NOT book a specialty dining PRIOR to boarding ship or DID you get the specialty dining when you got on ship....

ie. If you purchase pkg, you cannot book the separate dining rooms that you want PRIOR to getting on the ship..then you need to book via the Maitre de for each specialty restaurant.

 

We have been on the Reflection 3 times and love it...Normally love Tuscan Grille the best but they are cutting down on cost and don't have the veal chop that my hubs loves so I changed it to Murano...We have eaten in Murano, Tuscan Grille, and Qsine..I am leaving off Qsine this time as I am tired of the menu...Wondered if the Lawn Grille or the Porch were worth it..The Porch is NO reservations and $30 pp ( which I would not use as part of any dining pkg since it is so much less than the fancy restaurants.

Hubs just decided to bring jacket since he knows guys normally wear one in Murano..and he is looking forward to it as I read him the menu...But the PORCH sure looking inviting.

 

give me a heads up on when and how you booked your specialty dining..ie prebuy a pkg and make reservations once on ship or buy each separately prior to boarding and pick your exact time..

 

thx loads

Andrea

[fielddreamer]

Bob- so you did NOT book a specialty dining PRIOR to boarding ship or DID you get the specialty dining when you got on ship....

ie. If you purchase pkg, you cannot book the separate dining rooms that you want PRIOR to getting on the ship..then you need to book via the Maitre de for each specialty restaurant.

 

We have been on the Reflection 3 times and love it...Normally love Tuscan Grille the best but they are cutting down on cost and don't have the veal chop that my hubs loves so I changed it to Murano...We have eaten in Murano, Tuscan Grille, and Qsine..I am leaving off Qsine this time as I am tired of the menu...Wondered if the Lawn Grille or the Porch were worth it..The Porch is NO reservations and $30 pp ( which I would not use as part of any dining pkg since it is so much less than the fancy restaurants.

Hubs just decided to bring jacket since he knows guys normally wear one in Murano..and he is looking forward to it as I read him the menu...But the PORCH sure looking inviting.

 

give me a heads up on when and how you booked your specialty dining..ie prebuy a pkg and make reservations once on ship or buy each separately prior to boarding and pick your exact time..

 

thx loads

Andrea

I booked 3 specialty 4 months out when they offered the 20% off ! I did that because at the time you could only have a choice of your 1st night. The problem at that time was the times to eat on the package deals were 8:00 P.M. and after. When I looked at them at one of a time at regular price I had my choice of anytime I wanted. So with the 20% off it worked out fine for me with the discount. When we boarded that day they were offering 30% off any room that night so we booked Qusine. The other rooms I booked was Murano, Tuscan and lawn grille. The lawn grill we did not eat at because it is mostly fish items. It was never busy the whole cruise. The lawn grill was great and my wife cooked both of our meals with the chef which was great fun. I would suggest you do that for sure. It was agreat night outside also. Also, do the lunch there for $10 . it was real popular the whole week ! As far as jackets I noticed maybe 40% at dinner at night. For the first time I did not bring a jacket, tie or tux and was not at all out of place. I wore slacks and sport or dress shirts every night like most of the ship. Hardly anybody with a tux. As you know from the past there were many people selling the dinner pkgs around the ship on boarding day. I noticed that most of them were waiters with I-pads selling these pkgs and really lost at what they were doing. I want to Maurno's and the head man was at the desk and no one there. If you wait to sailing day I would go there instead of talking to the guys walking around.Booking early for me worked great and for a few $ more it was worth not dealing with it on sailing day. When are you going? I am booked on same ship Dec 8,2017 for 10 day southern> Going Aqua class this time but will still book 2 to 3 times other rooms! Bob

Edited December 29, 2016 by fielddreamer

[ncmtnmamma]

We were on the same cruise and had a wonderful time. We had select dining in the MDR, but much to my dismay, it isn't quite as "select" as I would like... because we were a group of five, the first night, the Maitre 'D pushed us to join another table. This is fine as we don't mind visiting with others, but, We did not realize they would slow the service of the group already seated to match our service.

 

Our group always enjoy time together and especially around a dinner table. My husband really enjoys good food and company, thus eats exceptionally slow. Also my father in law eats particularly slowly. As we were enjoying ourselves with our entree, out table partners excused themselves as if they were done. The server rushed over and ask if they would like dessert and on of the men commented loudly, well, we would have, but we only have so much time... I guess the need to get to their state room or the casino or something. Anyway, after that we book our own table at the same time each evening. Our server, Igede and his assitant, Edy could not have done ANYTHING more to ensure our enjoyment and our complete comfort. I am short and found the chairs to be quite uncomfortable, as if I sat back, by feet wouldn't touch the floor, and if I sat back, I felt like I was laying down. Our server actually brought me a pillow to put behind my back to see if it helped (and it did) and it was there waiting each evening when we got to our table.

 

The Maitre 'D, Artur, was really the only downside to the staff we encountered the entire cruise. He was really rather dismissive and didn't look you in the eye. He was quite interested in his conversations with his assistant and getting all the details of her new romance! He did become attentive the final two evenings (I think he was looking for tips) Our table service team and sommelier got very generous extra gratuities.

 

Found the pool music to be fun. But no chairs.

 

We do love to do excursions and on other cruises have done both through X and private. This time we did all X at the first four islands. We do disagree on Falmouth, but we ended up nearly an hour and a half from there on our excursion and it was totally nature based, so we weren't really disappointed by the town itself. Our guide was exceptional and we learned a great deal about the locals. We did not do the common falls, but another, more remote one. As one other poster had mentioned that X charged higher prices when booking excursions onboard, we did not find this to me the case.

 

I do agree with you whole heartedly about Labadee and the prices. I felt totally "nickel and dime" to death! And we had the same experience with the lounge chairs.

 

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation, great service and wonderful memories.

 

Much more, but I realized I was going overboard on your post! Thanks for posting.

[ncmtnmamma]

We were on the same cruise and had a wonderful time. We had select dining in the MDR, but much to my dismay, it isn't quite as "select" as I would like... because we were a group of five, the first night, the Maitre 'D pushed us to join another table. This is fine as we don't mind visiting with others, but, We did not realize they would slow the service of the group already seated to match our service.

 

Our group always enjoy time together and especially around a dinner table. My husband really enjoys good food and company, thus eats exceptionally slow. Also my father in law eats particularly slowly. As we were enjoying ourselves with our entree, out table partners excused themselves as if they were done. The server rushed over and ask if they would like dessert and on of the men commented loudly, well, we would have, but we only have so much time... I guess the need to get to their state room or the casino or something. Anyway, after that we book our own table at the same time each evening. Our server, Igede and his assitant, Edy could not have done ANYTHING more to ensure our enjoyment and our complete comfort. I am short and found the chairs to be quite uncomfortable, as if I sat back, by feet wouldn't touch the floor, and if I sat back, I felt like I was laying down. Our server actually brought me a pillow to put behind my back to see if it helped (and it did) and it was there waiting each evening when we got to our table.

 

The Maitre 'D, Artur, was really the only downside to the staff we encountered the entire cruise. He was really rather dismissive and didn't look you in the eye. He was quite interested in his conversations with his assistant and getting all the details of her new romance! He did become attentive the final two evenings (I think he was looking for tips) Our table service team and sommelier got very generous extra gratuities.

 

Found the pool music to be fun. But no chairs.

 

We do love to do excursions and on other cruises have done both through X and private. This time we did all X at the first four islands. We do disagree on Falmouth, but we ended up nearly an hour and a half from there on our excursion and it was totally nature based, so we weren't really disappointed by the town itself. Our guide was exceptional and we learned a great deal about the locals. We did not do the common falls, but another, more remote one. As one other poster had mentioned that X charged higher prices when booking excursions onboard, we did not find this to me the case.

 

I do agree with you whole heartedly about Labadee and the prices. I felt totally "nickel and dime" to death! And we had the same experience with the lounge chairs.

 

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation, great service and wonderful memories.

 

Much more, but I realized I was going overboard on your post! Thanks for posting.

[easyboy]

We were on the same cruise and had a wonderful time.

 

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation, great service and wonderful memories.

 

Glad you had a wonderful vacation. Thank you for sharing your own experience.