My View: Ringing in 2023 on Celebrity Reflection (semi-live)

[APDMOM]

Welcome to 2023 from the beautiful Celebrity Reflection.  I will try to post as much as possible, but the internet has already proven to be less than reliable.  So, most of this ‘view’ will probably wait until after we return.

 

If you post questions or requests, just know that I may be delayed with answering and replying.

 

For those who like to ‘skim-read’, I will post Tips in bold red.  That way you can just read right past the riffraff and enjoy the nitty gritty of what you want to know.

 

We are a family of 3, traveling on our 38th cruise. We have cruised on Celebrity, Costa, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and MSC - with MSC being our current favorite.

 

However, we were happy to return to Celebrity for this New Year’s cruise.  We do enjoy the brand and try to catch a Celebrity cruise when the price is right.

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 0 - Pompano Beach

 

We decided to spend the week before the cruise in an Air BnB in Pompano Beach.  We loved this pre-cruise vacation and enjoyed watching the yachts pass our ‘home’ in Aloha Condo Resort.

 

TIP: I highly recommend a stay at Aloha Condo Resort - very affordable and a fun pre-cruise stay.

 

A few views of our Pompano Beach Christmas:

 

 

 

 

[dv70]

We're on Reflection next week. Looking forward to your review and comments! Have a great trip!

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 1 - Fort Lauderdale

 

 

Our first glimpse of the ship - clipped from a video:

 

Arrival:

 

We were going to use Park ’n’ Go, but changed our plans when we saw that Reflection was docking at pier 25 instead of 29.  With the fact that Park ’n’ Go now charges the same as the port ($15 per day) and we can enjoy shaded garage parking at the port, we cancelled our reservation at Park ’n’ Go and parked at the Palms Garage.  It was quite full at our 9:52 arrival time, but there were only 2 ships in port today, so very few cars left from the parking garage today.

 

TIP: Take a picture of your suitcases before you check them in - just in case it gets lost.  Much better to have a real picture than the generic description:

 

[APDMOM]

TIP: If you can get to the port early, the garage parking is a good option.  We used to recommend Park ’n’ Go, but there is no longer a savings factor, and you may have to allow them to valet park your car at peak times.

 

We were at the front of the terminal at about 10:10.  The terminal doors opened around 10:15, we breezed through security,  and we experienced a new check in process.  Instead of going up to a counter, there are several rows where someone with a tablet meets you, scans your passport, and scans your Express pass (either hard copy or from your phone).  You do not receive your keys here, but proceed to a seating area.  We would have been sitting down within 5 minutes if it weren’t for the wifi going out frequently.  The tablets they use to scan us in use wifi to confirm your documents and when it goes out, it is a mess.  After about 15 minutes, we were able to get cleared through the check-in and waited to board.  Boarding started at 11:00 and we were on the ship by 11:15.

 

TIP: If you are one of the first groups to arrive at the port, find the closest seats that are empty.  The started boarding groups based on where you sat, rather than handing out numbers for boarding.  We ended up in boarding group 2, but would have been in group 5 if the agent had not advised us to sit closer to the rest of the passengers.

 

[APDMOM]

“Muster drill”

 

I absolutely love this new muster ‘drill’.  You watch a security video in the app, then go to your muster station anytime between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on boarding day.  It is very simple and prevents the stampede that normally ensues when the announcement for the muster drill/safety briefing is made.

 

Lunch in Oceanview Cafe

 

 

 

 

Plenty of Gluten Free options:

 

 

TIP:  Walk all the way to the back of the cafe to find a more quiet spot for lunch.  You can also sit outside if you walk all the way aft.

 

TIP: Ice cream is available on the opposite side of the bar.  So, one entrance is by the bar, the other entrance is by the ice cream.  There are options for scoops of ice cream, sorbet, and soft serve ice cream.  They also had toppings for ice cream.  Another place where you can find soft-serve ice cream is by the Mast Bar Grill.

 

We loved the variety offered in the Oceanview Cafe.  The tandoori chicken was a favorite.  However, we noticed that the food is quite a bit more salty on Celebrity than on MSC - something we knew, but forgot how noticeable the increased salt is.  This is one reason we like MSC the best - their food is more Mediterranean and you don’t get that ‘bloated’ feeling after meals on MSC.

[APDMOM]

Hopping offline to get the next batch ready.  I am trying to maximize this 90-minute Elite wifi...LOL!

[HS2BS]

Following along as we also board on the 8th!

 

Hal

[APDMOM]

Lunch with a view:

[APDMOM]

Sailaway and Dinner:

 

Harmony of the Seas was the only other ship in port on this New Year's Eve Sailaway:

 

We loved the enthusiasm from these Celebrity fans sending us off with a smile and a wave:

 

That pilot boat got right under the lifeboats - to the point that you could barely see it:

 

 

 

See you in 8 days, Port Everglades:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Well, that was disappointing!  Took more than 5 minutes to upload those few pictures... Not very impressed with wifi, but we will plug along later.  Loving the cruise, despite the wifi woes.  😁

[bandp407]

Following-Reflection is a favorite of ours! Happy New Year and have a fabulous cruise! 

[SUESEABE]

Great pics. Following along as we will be on Reflection (1st time) in March. 

[IslaSarah]

I disembarked yesterday as you were boarding. I'm glad to be home, but sure am missing the food and service here at home! 

Hope you're having a great vacation!

[mtnlvr53]

Thanks for your review so far! We sail on 1/8

[SRQbeachgirl]

Looking forward to following your review and getting so excited for our first Celebrity cruise on the Reflection on Jan 22!

[DCPIV]

Thank you for doing this. We're on Reflection in a couple months and look forward to hearing how she's doing! 

[APDMOM]

Before rooms were ready, I did the spa tour and entered the drawing.  No luck there.  I do look forward to spending time in the Persian Garden on a port day (Elite perk).

 

TIP: Rooms were ready at 1 p.m.  You are allowed to drop off your carry on bags in your room and grab your seapass cards from outside the stateroom door when you board.  No announcement was made about rooms being ready, so just head to the room at the assigned time.

 

I tried to post 2 pictures with a total of 4.5 MB here about information in our room, but I watched the minutes tick down from 71 minutes to 65 and not even the 2.3 MB picture is uploaded yet.  So, I will wait until tomorrow to post more pictures. 😕

 

Due to the warning about peak dining times, we decided to show up for our reservation 15 minutes earlier than our booked time of 6:30.  We were seated immediately and had excellent service from Michael and One (Rizki).  Wish we could have them for a regular seating.

 

The food in the MDR was overall very good.  The tomato bisque is the best I have ever had - and I have tasted more than my fair share of tomato bisque, as it is my favorite soup.  The leg of lamb was disappointing - not comparing at all the the Royal Caribbean equal.  The salmon and lobster were very good, per DH and DS.  The baked Alaska was not worth the calories.  The chocolate trifle was good.  However, I think the soft serve ice cream was the best dessert of the day.

 

Sorry, forgot to take pics of the food!

 

We skipped the show and enjoyed the music of Chloe in Ensemble.  We called it a night, ringing in the new year our style - sleeping on a comfy bed at sea.  (Hope the more adventurous ‘young’ CC members will post their experience of the New Year’s party on the pool deck.)

[APDMOM]

Thanks for following along.  Those who know my trip reports know that I love posting in pictures... thus, My View.

 

With this frustration with the internet not loading, I am going to call it a night.  Hopefully, I will have better connection tomorrow to post pictures of our day in Nassau...

 

 

[thebutlerdidit]

Thank you for this review. I love that you’ve put helpful hints in red, that’s just so thoughtful! I will be on the Reflection in November for the first time since 2014.

[APDMOM]

Boarding Day info in our Stateroom:

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View: Favorite view of Day 1 - Love that large balcony!

 

[APDMOM]

In the present... We are currently enjoying a day at sea.  I will try to post our Bahamas views today.  So far, the internet is doing okay at the moment.  This "View" is more SEMI than LIVE, for sure!  If you have any requests, I will gladly see if I can find answers for you.   That is the best I can do for now to serve the CC community.  I am not trusting the internet to complete this review very timely.  

 

TIP:  Realy more of a tidbit of information:  Our cruise as over 2900 passengers.  The next cruise, for all my followers who board on Sunday, January 8th, has about 2600 passengers.  I was quite surprised that it is only about 300 fewer passengers...  Got this info from a reliable source 🙂 aka our Hotel Director.

 

[IslaSarah]

We had 3600 pax last week! Last year we were on the Dec 26th sailing on Reflection and still in Covid recovery mode, and it was only about 65% full; I could definitely feel the difference. There were a LOT of kids this time!

I'm also curious what cabin in you're in, since your view looks awfully familiar. I was in 1044 last week (and a similar angled balcony 7026 a year ago). 🙂

[greatestvalue]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

Love that large balcony!

If you dont mind, after the cruise if you could share which room that large balcony is found.  I always search for those types of rooms when booking.