Celebrity Reflection 3/23-4/2 (with RCCL comparison)

[MrBill923]

This was our first cruise on Celebrity. Our previous 3cruises were on Royal. We are both 60 and are very active.We take stairs not elevators and look for active things to do. We are easy going, love good food and wine. I did not take any pictures worthy of posting, I'll leave it up to the camera techie guys. We decided on this ship and trip based on the islands, and also wanted to see what Celebrity had to offer. I will add a few comments comparing this trip to our previous Royal trips.

We flew in from Chicago the night before and stayed at the Holiday Inn Suites Express near the FLL airport. We had dinner at Rendezvous restaurant not to far away. Both were very good. We took a taxi from the hotel to ship at 12:30 pm and there was a line, which we waited in for about 45 mins until we made it thru to the ship. We were in a Concierge Deck 9 balcony cabin. Luggage was delivered by 3 pm. Good cabin location and great room steward (Moezes). We saw him every day and he always greeted us with a smile and well wishes.

Our fellow cruises were mostly older than us, but there were some families, as we were told there was about 200 kids on board, and their obviously younger parents. But overall an older crowd than Royal.

We read the daily news letter every night to review activities for the next day. We looked for active fun things on deck vs seminars and other up selling speeches, trivia, etc. There are a few things, but not as many as Royal. There was some live music on deck which was nice --- but more would have been better. There were two "house bands" both had a wide variety of music. Besides playing on pool deck, they played mostly in the large foyer area, and a few of the bars. The Foyer area is a strange place for music and dancing, and seating is limited to the area around it. On Royal they had a more dedicated space for music and dancing. There was the Sky Lounge on Deck 14, but it was poorly laid out and the dance floor was small. It was also always hot in there.

We ate breakfast and lunch in the Ocean-view buffet. There were plenty of options and "stations' to pick from. Sometimes it was crowded, but the waiters were pretty quick with clearing tables. It was also open during the late afternoon and late into the evening for snacks. One thing though....the pizza is blah! Royal has way better pizza and pre-made sandwiches. The Cafe Bacio coffee shop had good coffee, but the pastries were not worth eating. We never tried the gelato but it looked great.

More later.....

[TickledBlue]

I appreciate this comparison, I love to read other's perspectives.

 

It would help to know which RCCL classes (or names) of ships you are comparing Reflection with. There is a big difference, say between RCCL Radiance class and Oasis class.

 

Edit:

I see from your signature that you've recently sailed Voyager and Freedom class ships. That helps to put this into perspective.

[cltnccruisers]

We've been on Splendour, Explorer and Freedom with RCL and sailed X for the first time on Silhouette last month. We much prefer the atrium (foyer) concept on X to the promenade on RCL which was always crowded and noisy. I do agree that the pizza on RCL was better but the pastries in Cafe al Bacio on Silhouette were fantastic. Overall we found our Silhouette cruise to be our most relaxing to date. So much so that we've booked on Reflection in September, 2019. Things do change ship to ship, though, so we may feel differently after next year.

[MrBill923]

TickledBlue, we were on the Freedom of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas, and Navigator of the Seas.

Cltnccruisers, I agree with you about the noisy Promenade, but those ships have better other places for music, dancing and crowds. Have a good trip.

[MrBill923]

Continued:

Every evening before and/or after our late dinner seating(8:30) we got drinks and listened to music in some bar or the foyer. Dinners - foodwas good and hot, but the variety was limited than on Royal. Service was OK, not what weexpected. Waiter and assistant were friendly and knowledgeable but not veryattentive (and they only had 1-2 other tables each night). When booking weasked for table of 8 so we could meet others. We got a table for 2. The bestpart about dinner each night was our wine sommelier (Dusko). He was great, friendlyand very knowledgeable about wine.

We did Celebrity booked excursions on each island. All wellmanaged. The activities by the pool were not really of interest to us, but wedid spend time in pool areas during live music times. During this time we alsoread and snoozed. We did not go to any of the production shows but did see twocomedians - they were funny. Also saw the singer/impersonator. We went to thesilent disco all three nights -- it was a blast.

More thoughts later.....

[riclop]

Thanks for the report.

[MrBill923]

Final thoughts:

Most of the staff was friendly. There were some officers who would not make contact, I thought that was strange. We never felt crowded on theship, Embarkation and debarkationwere acceptable, but of course could be better.

Yes, people are RUDE and hog chairs.

Consignee cabin – less cubbies for stuff than Royal cabins. We received Canapes every day from 3-4 pm. There were 4 little "treats". Some sushi, some sweets, chips and dips, shrimp, etc. We ate about half them. Not a big deal.

We were asked only a few times about the specialty restaurant packages.

We had the Select Drink package, and we were asked once to upgrade. My wife loves wine and there was a enough selection to keep her happy. The only problem is that you cannot get all wines at each bar. I had many mixed drinks at the different bars. They were hit and miss for consistency. It would be really helpful if they would have more than one drink menu at the bars, it might also increase the speed of service if people could review before being asked what they wanted.

I have always done my own research and booked my cruise. This time I did the same research but then used a Travel Agent.

We would book Celebrity again, but will be looking at Royal again as well.

[Clarea]

I appreciate the comparison report, thanks!

[Pepsi36]

Final thoughts:

Most of the staff was friendly. There were some officers who would not make contact, I thought that was strange. We never felt crowded on theship, Embarkation and debarkationwere acceptable, but of course could be better.

Yes, people are RUDE and hog chairs.

Consignee cabin – less cubbies for stuff than Royal cabins. We received Canapesevery day from 3-4 pm. There were 4 little "treats". Some sushi, some sweets, chips and dips, shrimp, etc. We ate about half them. Not a big deal.

We were asked only a few times about the specialty restaurant packages.

We had the Select Drink package, and we were asked once to upgrade. My wife loves wine and there was a enough selection to keep her happy. The only problem is that you cannot get all wines at each bar. I had many mixed drinks at the different bars. They were hit and miss for consistency. It would be really helpful if they would have more than one drink menu at the bars, it might also increase the speed of service if people could review before being asked what they wanted.

I have always done my own research and booked my cruise. This time I did the same research but then used a Travel Agent.

We would book Celebrity again, but will be looking at Royal again as well.

As a frequent cruiser with RCCI I agree with everything you have said MrBill. We sampled our first Celebrity cruise in March . We enjoyed it in the main but have booked next year with RCCI as it just didn't have the wow factor I was expecting.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your comparison report.

 

Keith

[cltnccruisers]

Consignee cabin – less cubbies for stuff than Royal cabins.

What did you think of the over-the-bed storage? We truly loved them and think they are an excellent feature.

[MrBill923]

The over the bed storage was OK, but a little inconvenient. We are both tall so we were able to reach and access it. We prefer drawers and the closet was a little tight.