Celebrity Reflection B2B 3/17 and 3/25 The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[High on the Seas]

Leg 1 -

 

The Good - 

 

After getting to the pier, check in was quick and the safety briefing only took minutes.  We picked up keys from the room and headed to the cafe for a coffee.  Service at bars was normally quick and staff everywhere pleasant.  

 

The bad - 

 

Our preferred dinner time had to be adjusted to very early in the evening.  If you waited until 7 or 7:30 Blu was backed up and there was a wait for tables.  Once you got in, service was slow and it took between 2 and 2 1/2 hours to complete the meal service.  As with previous years, they seem short of workers and although they are doing the best they can, they seem a bit stressed trying to keep up.   Only 2 sommelier's for the entire restaurant and they also have to run back and forth to the bar for drinks so we had little time to discuss wine selections with them.  Way too much lamb and duck selections on their menu for our tastes and we found ourselves having to order from the main dining room numerous times if we wanted variety over the 14 days.

 

The buffet was busy during the breakfast and lunch hours.  Food was average but any kind of bar service almost non-existent.  Once you found a place to sit (not easy at times) you had to go to the bar and ask for a drink or specialty coffee on your own.  Another case where it appears staffing has been cut way back.     

 

Leg 2 - 

 

The good - 

 

Met at Tuscan at 9:45 to leave ship and go through customs.  Very smooth and had new sea pass cards in no time.  Went through safety drill again and were ready to enjoy the last six days of our cruise

 

The bad - 

 

Same as first leg of cruise

 

The Ugly - 

 

Things went downhill fast when we began to notice that many passengers seemed to be part of large groups, some numbering in the hundreds.  One large group that was a travel agency conference on board we were told had between 400 and 800 attendees.  Celebrity closed venues all over the ship including the Sky Lounge, Celebrity Central, and Cellar Masters for private events over the 6 days.  The Sky lounge was closed for over 11 hours the first two days of the cruise for private events.  I went to Guest Relations to complain that other paying customers should not be locked out of so many venues and was told by the manager there that they had the right to close any portion of the ship as they deemed fit for a special event at any time.  She told me I would just have to find somewhere else to go.  She was quite rude, unapologetic and couldn't have been less concerned about my complaints. 

 

Because these large groups kept together there were many times that you could not get near some of the bars and casino for periods of the cruise and the noise levels were exceptionally loud.  I can see a bit of a party atmosphere in some areas but this spilled over to the restaurants and at times you couldn't have a conversation because of how loud people were.  

 

The number of intoxicated people was higher than on any other Celebrity cruises I have been on and no one at Celebrity ever stepped in to cut them off.  People were vaping at the outdoor pool and in the casino and again, no one would stop them.  

 

I guess when you are catering to special interest groups that can help with your business you simply look the other way.  Even some of the employees were complaining about the behavior of some of the guests.

 

I am sure that were people on this cruise may not have seen some of this behavior but my wife and I usually never leave the ship so we frequent many of the places that were closed on an ongoing basis and had more time to have been exposed to the behaviors of the some of the guests.  We have been cruising Celebrity since 2002 and remember the way people used to behave and the levels of service we used to get.  

 

Sorry about the long diatribe, but there doesn't appear a way to find out ahead of time if large groups will be on your cruise as Celebrity refuses to divulge this data so there is always a risk this could happen to you in the future.  I think having access to that information ahead of time may have saved us a lot of hard feelings and it would be the right thing to do on Celebrity's part (imho).             

[MikeMary4449]

We appreciate you taking the time to do a "Live From" and a "Post-Cruise Review", but suggest that you change your title to 2/17 and 2/25, rather than 3/17 and 3/25, to reflect the true dates of your cruises.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Thanks for the tip on dining times in Blu.  I'm on Reflection in Blu next month.

 

[The_Big_M]

It's a bit like the vaping trial in the casino, and removing butlers with no notice, despite paying for them (as well as many other things).

 

Celebrity reserve the right to make any negative changes to your cruise, and are not concerned with how you feel about that.

[QuestionEverything]

On 3/7/2024 at 5:27 PM, High on the Seas said:

Leg 1 -

 

The Good - 

 

After getting to the pier, check in was quick and the safety briefing only took minutes.  We picked up keys from the room and headed to the cafe for a coffee.  Service at bars was normally quick and staff everywhere pleasant.  

 

The bad - 

 

Our preferred dinner time had to be adjusted to very early in the evening.  If you waited until 7 or 7:30 Blu was backed up and there was a wait for tables.  Once you got in, service was slow and it took between 2 and 2 1/2 hours to complete the meal service.  As with previous years, they seem short of workers and although they are doing the best they can, they seem a bit stressed trying to keep up.   Only 2 sommelier's for the entire restaurant and they also have to run back and forth to the bar for drinks so we had little time to discuss wine selections with them.  Way too much lamb and duck selections on their menu for our tastes and we found ourselves having to order from the main dining room numerous times if we wanted variety over the 14 days.

 

The buffet was busy during the breakfast and lunch hours.  Food was average but any kind of bar service almost non-existent.  Once you found a place to sit (not easy at times) you had to go to the bar and ask for a drink or specialty coffee on your own.  Another case where it appears staffing has been cut way back.     

 

Leg 2 - 

 

The good - 

 

Met at Tuscan at 9:45 to leave ship and go through customs.  Very smooth and had new sea pass cards in no time.  Went through safety drill again and were ready to enjoy the last six days of our cruise

 

The bad - 

 

Same as first leg of cruise

 

The Ugly - 

 

Things went downhill fast when we began to notice that many passengers seemed to be part of large groups, some numbering in the hundreds.  One large group that was a travel agency conference on board we were told had between 400 and 800 attendees.  Celebrity closed venues all over the ship including the Sky Lounge, Celebrity Central, and Cellar Masters for private events over the 6 days.  The Sky lounge was closed for over 11 hours the first two days of the cruise for private events.  I went to Guest Relations to complain that other paying customers should not be locked out of so many venues and was told by the manager there that they had the right to close any portion of the ship as they deemed fit for a special event at any time.  She told me I would just have to find somewhere else to go.  She was quite rude, unapologetic and couldn't have been less concerned about my complaints. 

 

Because these large groups kept together there were many times that you could not get near some of the bars and casino for periods of the cruise and the noise levels were exceptionally loud.  I can see a bit of a party atmosphere in some areas but this spilled over to the restaurants and at times you couldn't have a conversation because of how loud people were.  

 

The number of intoxicated people was higher than on any other Celebrity cruises I have been on and no one at Celebrity ever stepped in to cut them off.  People were vaping at the outdoor pool and in the casino and again, no one would stop them.  

 

I guess when you are catering to special interest groups that can help with your business you simply look the other way.  Even some of the employees were complaining about the behavior of some of the guests.

 

I am sure that were people on this cruise may not have seen some of this behavior but my wife and I usually never leave the ship so we frequent many of the places that were closed on an ongoing basis and had more time to have been exposed to the behaviors of the some of the guests.  We have been cruising Celebrity since 2002 and remember the way people used to behave and the levels of service we used to get.  

 

Sorry about the long diatribe, but there doesn't appear a way to find out ahead of time if large groups will be on your cruise as Celebrity refuses to divulge this data so there is always a risk this could happen to you in the future.  I think having access to that information ahead of time may have saved us a lot of hard feelings and it would be the right thing to do on Celebrity's part (imho).             

Thank you for your post.

Disgusting to be frank and a Celebrity deliberate, known and deemed acceptable decision that would reduce the cruise product for the non group patrons.

We experienced this in the past on Celebrity as well as a Celebrity cruise when all the soft goods were removed from all public spaces 2 days in advance of a nude cruise.

We cancelled Celebrity and moved to the premium lines and are thriving.

Good for you to go to guest relations and state your concern - guest relations on any cruise line are useless at best.

Give thought to moving on.

 

[High on the Seas]

1 minute ago, QuestionEverything said:

Thank you for your post.

Disgusting to be frank and a Celebrity deliberate, known and deemed acceptable decision that would reduce the cruise product for the non group patrons.

We experienced this in the past on Celebrity as well as a Celebrity cruise when all the soft goods were removed from all public spaces 2 days in advance of a nude cruise.

We cancelled Celebrity and moved to the premium lines and are thriving.

Good for you to go to guest relations and state your concern - guest relations on any cruise line are useless at best.

Give thought to moving on.

 

After 25+ cruises with Celebrity we now feel we have no choice but to move on. We already have a land tour in Spain and Portugal scheduled and are looking at a Viking cruise to Norway and Iceland. 

[QuestionEverything]

9 minutes ago, High on the Seas said:

After 25+ cruises with Celebrity we now feel we have no choice but to move on. We already have a land tour in Spain and Portugal scheduled and are looking at a Viking cruise to Norway and Iceland. 

We have 0 cruises booked despite sailing since 1989. We sailed Celebrity from 2001 to 2018 when the class segmentation and decline in product advanced. Moved to the premium and luxury lines and did well, but now, the cost benefit is not there for us.

Like you we have a 30 day land tour of all of Great Britain booked in June with a return on the QM2 to NYC (not a cruise ship thankfully). Have a Norway expedition up to Nor Cap booked on Hurtigruten with a return via a mighty train to Bergen. Likely river boat trips and train travel in our future. 
We want more detailed, in depth travel.

We enjoyed Oceania and Seabourn for their itinerary focused voyages.

Travel well and it is all about you, not the cruise lines! You come first!

 

[susiej104]

We just returned from the Reflection out of FLL sailing date 3/16-24.  This was my 2nd time on Reflection and have sailed many other times on Celebrity on different ships.  The dates listed by the poster are incorrect.  The sailing on the 16th was outstanding as far as service, value for dollar, attention to our needs.  I have absolutely no complaints and will look forward to our next trip.  Our last sailing to Alaska last September on the Solstice was good but the crew made this one such a better experience.  Well done Reflection crew.