Reflection ...speciality dining?

[kaz828]

June will be our first time on the Celebrity line (Reflection) on a short 3 night cruise, is it worth doing any specialty restaurants? If so which?
Also another side question, can you check-in at any time? We will be there 2 days before in Ft.Lauderdale.

[hrhdhd]

You'll check in 45 days in advance. That will get you a port arrival time, when you'll have a quick passport check before you board when the ship is ready (and priority guests have boarded).

 

• We dined in Lawn Club Grill last week and enjoyed it. Booked with the first night discount in the cruise planner and used some OBC. 

[kaz828]

10 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

You'll check in 45 days in advance. That will get you a port arrival time, when you'll have a quick passport check before you board when the ship is ready (and priority guests have boarded).

 

• We dined in Lawn Club Grill last week and enjoyed it. Booked with the first night discount in the cruise planner and used some OBC. 

Thanks, so if our port arrival time is later can we ask it to be moved eariler?
Also what is "first night discount"?

[hrhdhd]

2 hours ago, kaz828 said:

Thanks, so if our port arrival time is later can we ask it to be moved eariler?
Also what is "first night discount"?

No, your arrival time is what it is. Check in ASAP and you should be able to get an earlier time.

 

"First-night discount" is just that: in the cruise planner, you'll see the specialty restaurants offer a discount for booking on the first night of the cruise. Other discounts are few and far between.

[jelayne]

If you don’t see the 1st night discount it is because they often sell out. 

[Pinboy]

15 hours ago, jelayne said:

If you don’t see the 1st night discount it is because they often sell out. 

That reminds me----

They hold back a few tables for suite passengers-- so, a suggestion :

On our recent cruise on the Silhouette we checked the daily reservation status at the Specialty restaurants we were interested in as soon as we boarded ( slow nights they offer discounts ). The Maitre'd took our cabin number and said they would contact us when available.

Sure enough there were discounts available at Murano and Lawn Club Grill on the first night.

 

 

[dreamer321]

20 hours ago, kaz828 said:

June will be our first time on the Celebrity line (Reflection) on a short 3 night cruise, is it worth doing any specialty restaurants? If so which?...

I sailed on Reflection in December and ate in all the specialty restaurants.  

 

I really enjoyed Tuscan Grille the best.  I went late and had a window table overlooking the wake.  It was dark out but it was still relaxing and enjoyable.  I started with the crab cakes which I really enjoyed. The timing of the service was very good, no excessive waits but not rushed either. 

 

I ate at Murano the first night but was so exhausted from the excitement (and drinking) of the first day that I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I normally would have. I got the venison and it was just ok. The appetizers were good and the Grand Marnier soufflé was very good.  

 

I ate at the Porch for lunch on a sea day.  It was very relaxing and the food was good but not amazing. 

 

I ate at Lawn Club Grille for a sunset dinner as we were sailing away from Cancun.  The food was okay, nothing memorable but no complaints.  The atmosphere was really nice.

 

I also ate embarkation lunch at Sushi on Five.  Much more relaxing than fighting the crowds in the buffet.  

 

I ate at Le Petit Chef the last night of the cruise.  I enjoyed the animations more than I thought I would but I'm not in a hurry to go back anytime soon. Check the menus before reserving as they vary from day to day.

[TheJT]

We just got off the Reflection on 3/30/24 and ate at all but Le Petit Chef and Sushi on Five.  We only had lunch at The Porch and The Lawn Club.

 

Our favorite meal was at Murano, followed by Tuscan. We spent two nights at Tuscan because we thought the Italian steakhouse vs. French forward would be more to our liking. Afterward, we wished we had done Murano twice instead. The Chateaubriand was amazing.  The Lawn Club lunch was not worth the money (IMHO) as it has a limited burger menu and a salad bar.  The Porch was okay.  I don't know that I would pay extra for lunch there again though.  I hope that their dinners are better.

 

I recommend getting an Alcove on Reflection on a port day and having lunch brought to you.  It's a great spot to relax and eat and the port cost is justifiable, again IMHO.

[markincanada]

We are sailing in a couple of weeks on Reflection.  Online there are really no available times for reservations - saying they are all booked up.  But we still get the almost daily emails urging us to make reservations.

 

We will see when we get on board if anything comes up.

[travel1light]

1 hour ago, TheJT said:

We just got off the Reflection on 3/30/24 and ate at all but Le Petit Chef and Sushi on Five.  We only had lunch at The Porch and The Lawn Club.

 

Our favorite meal was at Murano, followed by Tuscan. We spent two nights at Tuscan because we thought the Italian steakhouse vs. French forward would be more to our liking. Afterward, we wished we had done Murano twice instead. The Chateaubriand was amazing.  The Lawn Club lunch was not worth the money (IMHO) as it has a limited burger menu and a salad bar.  The Porch was okay.  I don't know that I would pay extra for lunch there again though.  I hope that their dinners are better.

 

I recommend getting an Alcove on Reflection on a port day and having lunch brought to you.  It's a great spot to relax and eat and the port cost is justifiable, again IMHO.

Hi,

 

Alcoves are on the lawn, deck 15? And what is included and the port day cost?

 

Thank you

[TheJT]

1 hour ago, travel1light said:

Alcoves are on the lawn, deck 15? And what is included and the port day cost?

Pre-buying was $89 I believe.  You get two bottles of water, a choice of a bucket of beers or a bottle of wine.  Fruit plate, and cheese plate.  Butler service will work with you on whatever you need.

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, TheJT said:

We only had lunch at The Porch and The Lawn Club.

Were either of these venues open for lunch on embarkation day?

[TheJT]

No idea.  We had lunch at Luminae and then hit the spa.

[dreamer321]

20 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Were either of these venues open for lunch on embarkation day?

No, I've attached the page listing venue hours from Day 1.

[Team Stag]

Ultimately, you need to try to figure out what kind of cruise you want to have.  We are doing a 3 day Reflection Cruise in a couple weeks & we know we are going to party.  We have steam to blow off and that's going to happen.  So for us - MDR and more likely the OVC or Room Service will be our dinners of choice.  The idea of sitting down for a large delicious meal after being in the sun all day after too many adult beverages would be a waste of money for us.

We love the specialty restaurants & the great selection they have of them on the Reflection.  As you can see from this post, there are multiple different opinions on their favorite (ours is Murano followed by LPC based on the show / menu).  Now, if you are celebrating a special occasion - a specialty restaurant is a GREAT way to do that.  Speciality restaurants also tend to have excellent service & a step up in food from the MDR as well (although we find great service lots of places with Celebrity). 

As others mentioned, you need to pick a time for check in. If you go to your cruise planner, you will see when Check In opens.  If you want an early boarding time, I strongly advise you check in on that first day.  Especially with a 3 day cruise, most fellow passengers will want to maximize time on the ship.  Enjoy the cruise!

Edited April 2 by Team Stag