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Reflection Review 1/12 - 1/19

FrederickPIII

By FrederickPIII,
in Celebrity Cruises

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FrederickPIII

FrederickPIII

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Just got off the Reflection yesterday, and I wanted to share our experience during this VID world. We are Elite members and have been on the Reflection two other times.

 

We drove from Rehoboth Beach Delaware to Fort Lauderdale with 1 stop overnight in Savannah Ga. Trip was straight forward and non eventful (however, there was definitely some crazy driving once we got to Fla!).

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale (We are Hilton Diamond members thus why we stayed there. Nice stay, but it is ready for a major overhaul).

Wife and I took our Celebrity tests Monday, 1/10, 2 days prior to launch and we both tested Negative. It was a virtual process and it was very straight forward. We downloaded our results to our phone and I also forwarded my results to my wife's email. THANK GOD I did!

 

We parked at the Park and Go, which we had prepaid. I used WAZE on my phone to get there. We parked in a line of cars, got out, driver took luggage out of the car, left keys in the car and got on the bus. Wahoo! We are heading to the port (I would highly recommend Park and Go!).

 

Half way there, I realize, OMG, I left my phone in the car. I was starting to panic and of course the Wife was upset. I realized that I had sent my test results to her email and all other boarding procedures did not need a phone. Of course the wife was still upset and said we couldn't board without it due to the Celebrity App on my phone (which we used to pre-board). I asked her how her 94 year old mother would board because doesn't have a phone? Everything did go fine without the phone, wife pulled up the emails to show the results and we boarded. I truly did miss the phone trying to workout for a week without music! UGH!

 

The cruise was fantastic. There was between 800 - 850 people on board (it depended who you talked to). I will share the Negative, Weird, and Positive thoughts of the cruise.

 

Negatives:

- We got the free WiFi and I tried to listen to Spotify on my wife's phone when I worked out, latency was so bad that it never worked. Wife and I agreed that there would be no way we could use the WiFi if we had to have a Work Video Conference call

- There seemed to be times that there was a little language barrier between the staff and guests

- There was always some Kunkle Heads that thought that the Mask rule did not pertain to them. Most folks did follow the protocol

- No Puerto Rico or St. Thomas

 

Positives:

- Cruise was fantastic. The crew did go overboard to please

- The food at Blu was fantastic. I did choose some options from the MD and everything was outstanding. Buffet was also outstanding, however, you could NOT serve yourself, which was not an issue

- Service was outstanding

- Music around the ship was very good

- We masked up and enjoyed the Silent Disco both nights!

- Tortola was added because Puerto Rico was dropped 

 

Weird:

- No passenger VID cases were mentioned, except at the end of the cruise. One back-to-back guest tested positive and was put in isolation

- We noticed several crew members would go missing. We noticed waiters, waiter assistants, sommeliers, and cabin staff started going missing midway through the cruise. We could only assume they were getting quarantined!

 

Overall, we are glad we went! It has been 2 years since our last cruise. I will say that we did take necessary precautions by double masking and avoiding crowds. Even during the Silent Disco we were away from the crowd dancing.

 

I also believe that we were not made aware of all the possible VID cases. I can understand why because it is in the best interest for the cruise industry not to share all and create potential panic.

 

If you get the chance, GO and don't cancel! Be safe and diligent! You will not get this type of service with these small capacities ever again!

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FrederickPIII

FrederickPIII

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- Staterooms and ship are in outstanding condition. No visible wear. Reflection for almost 10 years old is a beautiful ship!

- We were informed of the port change the afternoon b4. However, it could have taken place up to the morning b4 (per talking to the captain). We had a cruise day instead of St. Thomas and the ship had a huge amount of activities. Flexibility and being safe is the key in my humbled opinion

- Went to a couple shows, about 50 - 70 people. We had great distancing. No excursions for us. Saw folks getting packed in to busses for bus tours or boats for boat tours. Again we wanted to try to avoid any such crowding

- I think sometimes to drive in Fla, u need ur driving gloves and then just close ur eyes and stomp on it 😀!

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Pickels

Pickels

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3 minutes ago, FrederickPIII said:

- Staterooms and ship are in outstanding condition. No visible wear. Reflection for almost 10 years old is a beautiful ship!

- We were informed of the port change the afternoon b4. However, it could have taken place up to the morning b4 (per talking to the captain). We had a cruise day instead of St. Thomas and the ship had a huge amount of activities. Flexibility and being safe is the key in my humbled opinion

- Went to a couple shows, about 50 - 70 people. We had great distancing. No excursions for us. Saw folks getting packed in to busses for bus tours or boats for boat tours. Again we wanted to try to avoid any such crowding

- I think sometimes to drive in Fla, u need ur driving gloves and then just close ur eyes and stomp on it 😀!

RE: I think sometimes to drive in Fla, u need ur driving gloves and then just close ur eyes and stomp on it 😀!  It helps if you've ever driven in New York Brooklyn or Long Island... 😆

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Cruise a holic

Cruise a holic

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Where did you take your covid test?    We are scheduled for the reflection in March and hopefully things might calm down by then.  Not worried about itinerary- but we enjoy Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel.  We are doing the Western Caribbean.  

 

Would you estimate that the ship was 1/2 full?  Thanks

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Cruise a holic

Cruise a holic

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2 minutes ago, Pickels said:

RE: I think sometimes to drive in Fla, u need ur driving gloves and then just close ur eyes and stomp on it 😀!  It helps if you've ever driven in New York Brooklyn or Long Island... 😆

Well we wouldn't drive from LI to florida.  Why not take a plane?  More dangerous to stop on the way in motels and eat at rest stops.  People might not be covid compliant.

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Pickels

Pickels

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2 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

Well we wouldn't drive from LI to florida.  Why not take a plane?  More dangerous to stop on the way in motels and eat at rest stops.  People might not be covid compliant.

I could be wrong but, I think they were talking about driving IN Florida.

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zoncom

zoncom

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  Back from recent Silhoutte B2B Caribbean. Noticed cabin steward sitting outside lowest deck cabin all the time. I assume someone was quaranteed in there .No public notice of Virus. Bar service and MDR food also lousy. This was her first voyage after deadheading back TA. The crew was not well trained. Going on Reflection B2B this Spring, always have a fine experience on Reflection.

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FrederickPIII

FrederickPIII

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- We ordered our COVID tests through Celebrity. You do a virtual test, by using your phone, it connects you to a live person that walks you through the process and then checks your results. You get your results immediately via email. Took about 15 - 20 minutes. Very straight forward!

 

- Ship was 25 - 30% full 

 

- Also, I forgot to mention, there are some limitations depending on the port. In Tortola and St. Thomas (if we had docked), you could not get off the boat UNLESS you had an excursion through Celebrity!

 

- First time driving ever (in the US, did see this in Italy), where on 95 (Fla), the left two lanes on 95 (left most was the HO lane), someone decided to go in the middle to create a third lane!

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5:00_Somewhere "Live from...." Rare

5:00_Somewhere

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@FrederickPIII I also want to thank you for your review and thoughts. As I mentioned on another thread, we are booked in an Aqua Class cabin on the Reflection 19 March. Final payment date was this past Tuesday, and we were waffling whether to go or not, but these reviews helped us decide to pull the trigger.

 

We've sailed on the Silhouette 3 times and LOVE her, and had a cruise on the Reflection cancelled last year (due to Covid), so are very much looking forward to our upcoming cruise. We're especially looking forward to dining at the Lawn Club Grill again, and always enjoy lunch at the Porch cafe - in addition to all the other dining options. 

 

I was also happy to see your comments about the port substitutions. We would definitely be fine with either the ports scheduled or those you visited instead. And we experienced similar excursion limitations when we sailed on the Summit last summer. It is what it is, and we're just happy to be able to cruise. 🙂 

 

I do wish the "knuckleheads" would smarten up, for everyone's sake, but they're probably the same people who hog chairs by the pool and in the theater and smoke in no-smoking areas. 😉 

 

Welcome home, and thanks again. 👍🚢🏝️

Edited by 5:00_Somewhere
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DCPIV "Live from...." Rare

DCPIV

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Thanks for the report!

 

We board Reflection in a couple of weeks (knock on wood), so it's nice to hear how things are going.  It sounds very much like the other cruises we've been on since the restart (and that's good news!)

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Wiseask

Wiseask

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We were also on this cruise and were not aware of a single passenger diagnosed with Covid nor did we notice any crew “missing” during the week. We also did not notice any passengers ignoring the masking rule, including in the Fitness Center. 
 

The ship was looking a little worn around the exercise track on Deck 14 but was otherwise in excellent condition. The crew could not have been more gracious or friendly, and we felt safer in the protective bubble Celebrity created for us than we did on land. 

 

All in all it was a fabulous cruise. My only criticism is that it ended too soon.
 

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