Reflection Review: March 30 - April 7

[tarheel87]

We had a simply wonderful time on Reflection this past week.  It was our first time sailing with Celebrity and it won't be our last!  A few notes:

 

We spent two nights in at the Courtyard at Fort Lauderdale Beach prior to the cruise.  We had a stupendous view and really enjoyed watching ships coming in and seeing the Reflection waiting for us on the second morning.  We had a King Junior Suite and when we walked in ( a little after midnight on the first night) we realized the air wasn't working.  When we expressed concern, we were told the hotel was full and we could check out for no penalty and find another hotel (unlikely that we would find one on Easter weekend).  They did get someone up the next day to work on it and while it was still hot, it was bearable.  We paid a lot for the room and I was frustrated with their attitude of "sucks to be you" and their refusal to do anything to make up for it   This is the second time in 3 months that we have had major problems with a Marriott property (over Christmas we stayed in Charlotte and the water was out for most of the day and we were basically told the same thing) and I suspect we'll be mostly staying in Hiltons after this.  

 

Boarding Reflection was a breeze and it was lovely to be able to put our carry on luggage in the room and explore the ship.

 

Our room was 7161 and was a verandah on the hump.  We loved the room and spent a lot of time on the verandah.  We could occasionally smell cigarette smoke but otherwise we were quite content.  I did think that storage seemed to be more limited than previous cruises we had been on, but I may have been imagining things.  We did take an approved extension cord that had three outlets plus several usb ports and that may have been the most important item we packed because there were only two outlets in the cabin and I needed one of them for my CPAP.  Speaking of that, a huge bottle of distilled water and a long extension cord were awaiting me in the cabin.  So glad I asked for them in advance.

 

I thought the food was good to excellent.  We ate most dinners in the main dining room and there was only one dish that I actively disliked, the chicken saltimbocca.  We ate one meal in Murano and one at the Lawn Club Grill and enjoyed both.  We had breakfast and lunch at the buffet and were very pleasantly surprised (we are not usually buffet people). 

 

We only attended one show because we loved listening to the live music and I fell in love with Cellar Masters.  We also really enjoyed the Ensemble Lounge.

 

We felt that basic wifi was suited for us.  I could do most apps.  We didn't need to stream anything and I was able to (very slowly) send some pictures to family and friends.  We upgraded to the premium drinks package and while I'm not positive that it paid for itself (we are not heavy drinkers), it was nice to not have to worry about being charged for every thing that we had to drink.

 

A number of people we met on the cruise talked about how many children were on board but for Easter Week there were fewer than I expected and all were well behaved.  

 

Our room attendant was amazing and we really liked the people who worked on the ship.  We had one off night in the main dining room when we were seated in a different section, but everyone else was wonderful.  

 

We went to Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire.  In Aruba we did a sail and snorkel with the ship and there were a lot of people on board but I really enjoyed it.  In Curacao we went on the trolly tour.  That's not normally the thing for us, but we got to see much more of Willemstad than we could have on our own and we enjoyed our walk back to the ship.  In Bonaire we rented a premium golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers and did the south loop.  We really enjoyed it but wished we had spent a little more time at the beaches.  We did have a difficult time finding the gas station to fill our cart at the end (as did several other people) but would absolutely rent from them again.

 

 

[fac429]

Good to hear!  We'll be sailing on her in June for the first time.

[horseymike]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise 🚢.

Did you get any coffee ☕️ from Cafe Al Baccio ?

[tarheel87]

1 minute ago, horseymike said:

Glad you enjoyed your cruise 🚢.

Did you get any coffee ☕️ from Cafe Al Baccio ?

I got several lattes.  They were excellent.

[buzz031]

Great to hear! We board her on Saturday.

[hrhdhd]

Hey Tar Heel 87 (from Tar Heel 92), thanks for the review. We were on Reflection from March 16-24 and overall had a great time. Glad you did, too.

[NC State]

Great review, we will be sailing on her in December.  We will also be making the same stops! 

[I'llGoAnywhere]

We were on the Reflection in February. Loved listening to Time Machine Duo and Ge in the Ensemble each night! 

[lv2BonBoard]

We will be on Reflection next week (our first Celebrity cruise). What type of extension cord is considered approved and how do you request on in advance? Thanks!

[FrankD63]

I’m glad to hear so many positive Reflection reviews here on the boards. The main CC Reviews section contains many negative reviews that have me concerned with booking a cruise on the Reflection next summer. I think most of those negative reviews were from the European itinerary and the Transatlantic cruise. Hopefully they’ve gotten their act together now that they are stationed in the Caribbean. 
 

We are scheduled for a Beyond cruise this Summer which was originally on the Reflection and  don’t want to regret stepping back down to an older ship next year after we experience the Beyond. 

[newfiegirl4]

On 4/8/2024 at 8:05 PM, tarheel87 said:

We had a simply wonderful time on Reflection this past week.  It was our first time sailing with Celebrity and it won't be our last!  A few notes:

 

We spent two nights in at the Courtyard at Fort Lauderdale Beach prior to the cruise.  We had a stupendous view and really enjoyed watching ships coming in and seeing the Reflection waiting for us on the second morning.  We had a King Junior Suite and when we walked in ( a little after midnight on the first night) we realized the air wasn't working.  When we expressed concern, we were told the hotel was full and we could check out for no penalty and find another hotel (unlikely that we would find one on Easter weekend).  They did get someone up the next day to work on it and while it was still hot, it was bearable.  We paid a lot for the room and I was frustrated with their attitude of "sucks to be you" and their refusal to do anything to make up for it   This is the second time in 3 months that we have had major problems with a Marriott property (over Christmas we stayed in Charlotte and the water was out for most of the day and we were basically told the same thing) and I suspect we'll be mostly staying in Hiltons after this.  

 

Boarding Reflection was a breeze and it was lovely to be able to put our carry on luggage in the room and explore the ship.

 

Our room was 7161 and was a verandah on the hump.  We loved the room and spent a lot of time on the verandah.  We could occasionally smell cigarette smoke but otherwise we were quite content.  I did think that storage seemed to be more limited than previous cruises we had been on, but I may have been imagining things.  We did take an approved extension cord that had three outlets plus several usb ports and that may have been the most important item we packed because there were only two outlets in the cabin and I needed one of them for my CPAP.  Speaking of that, a huge bottle of distilled water and a long extension cord were awaiting me in the cabin.  So glad I asked for them in advance.

 

I thought the food was good to excellent.  We ate most dinners in the main dining room and there was only one dish that I actively disliked, the chicken saltimbocca.  We ate one meal in Murano and one at the Lawn Club Grill and enjoyed both.  We had breakfast and lunch at the buffet and were very pleasantly surprised (we are not usually buffet people). 

 

We only attended one show because we loved listening to the live music and I fell in love with Cellar Masters.  We also really enjoyed the Ensemble Lounge.

 

We felt that basic wifi was suited for us.  I could do most apps.  We didn't need to stream anything and I was able to (very slowly) send some pictures to family and friends.  We upgraded to the premium drinks package and while I'm not positive that it paid for itself (we are not heavy drinkers), it was nice to not have to worry about being charged for every thing that we had to drink.

 

A number of people we met on the cruise talked about how many children were on board but for Easter Week there were fewer than I expected and all were well behaved.  

 

Our room attendant was amazing and we really liked the people who worked on the ship.  We had one off night in the main dining room when we were seated in a different section, but everyone else was wonderful.  

 

We went to Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire.  In Aruba we did a sail and snorkel with the ship and there were a lot of people on board but I really enjoyed it.  In Curacao we went on the trolly tour.  That's not normally the thing for us, but we got to see much more of Willemstad than we could have on our own and we enjoyed our walk back to the ship.  In Bonaire we rented a premium golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers and did the south loop.  We really enjoyed it but wished we had spent a little more time at the beaches.  We did have a difficult time finding the gas station to fill our cart at the end (as did several other people) but would absolutely rent from them again.

 

 

So it seems Marriott chain is going downhill! We stayed at the courtyard by Marriott in Plantation and we booked 2 rooms next to each other. One room was infested with little red ants. They wouldn’t move us when we asked, said they were full. When we asked for a refund for the inconvenience they conveniently pulled 5 rooms out of their as*. That’s how many rooms we went into until there were no ants!!! Absolutely ridiculous. 

[ch175]

Appreciate you taking the time to write this up! I’m booked for ABC on Reflection in December. Hearing how you spent your time on the islands is especially helpful.

[tarheel87]

8 hours ago, lv2BonBoard said:

We will be on Reflection next week (our first Celebrity cruise). What type of extension cord is considered approved and how do you request on in advance? Thanks!

To request one one for a CPAP, you have to fill out a special needs form which you can get here:  https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/CEL-Special-Needs-Form-Revised-062221.pdf

 

For the one I brought to plug in all of my electronics, I bought on off of Amazon.  I think the brand was One Beat and it will say cruise approved.  The important part was that it cannot have a surge protector because that is considered to be a fire hazard on board.