CruiserByHeart

Love both cruise lines -- for their strengths and differences.

Enjoy the spectacle of parades and shows with RCI. 

Love the quiet and adult style of Celebrity.

Neither are better, just different 😃👍😉

Just now, CruiseMelissa said:

Thank you!

Glad to help 😊

Enjoy your cruise and your dinner with Le Petit Chef 👨‍🍳

Not a silly question at all 😃

We enjoyed the culinary creations of the quirky small guy onboard the Reflection a year ago. Before the dinner show started, or server asked if we wanted the set menubor substitute any dishes. DW opted to substitute some of the dishes. We just asked right there and no problem getting the substitutions, which were all in an alternative menu offered. Only drawback was that the video show did not reflect the substitutions so the dish prepared by the little star chef before or eyes did not match the dish served by his IRL assistant in the galley.

We did Aqua on the Reflection last year and had 2 aluminum bottles of water delivered every day - even if we hadn't consumed the prior ones. We had the premium beverage package and brought Evian water from the bars as we did not enjoy the taste of the canned water and disliked being cut in our lips when trying to drink from the cans... At one point we started to bring the cans to leave them in public areas as it seems as if our room steward got paid for each can he delivered to our room, regardless of us not drinking them...

2 hours ago, CruiserByHeart said:

On the left you have St John of the USVI  (formerly the island of Skt Jan when the islands were Danish). On the right you'll find Frenchman's Cay and further ahead is Little Thatch and Great Thatch Island of the BVI.

Not easy to get the angle right, but here's the same view from Google Earth... sort of

😉

I just love this shot. It's pre-Covid and was extensively used at the time of the then new S class vessels.

On the left you have St John of the USVI  (formerly the island of Skt Jan when the islands were Danish). On the right you'll find Frenchman's Cay and further ahead is Little Thatch and Great Thatch Island og the BVI.

I can't make out the actual Celebrity vessel, only that is not the Reflection as the sundeck does seem bi-level. 

Here's a range of these shots from different angles and the vessel seems to be in the correct angled for each shot, so I have always believed these to be actual photographs ... perhaps taken from a plane?

1 hour ago, horseymike said:

Did you notice any vibration during your cruise ?

We enjoyed our cruise on the Reflection last August and found the ship in great condition👍

Some shaking was experienced around the World Class Bar and Martini Bar 🤪

Jokes aside, we did find the ship in almost the same condition as when we sailed her in nine years earlier. Only a few pieces of furniture did seem worn, but I'm sure this has already been fixed 😉

Great question, we've been wondering too... we never received the emailed invoice 😱

Actually, we haven't received the emailed invoice for the past handful of cruises, yet everything has worked out fine at embarkation and onboard 😃

We just upgraded from the AI beverage package at the $18 pppd plus gratuities... There was a hefty 50% discount on the full package, but no reduction in the upgrade 💸

2 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

the ship was only 53% full

I believe you 😃 So was our previous TA on the Celebrity Eclipse back in 2017. Just checked our upcoming cruise and all that's left to book are inside rooms 😱

Thanks @debsjc, for your candid review 🙏 

We're going on the Silhouette for the westbound transatlantic and wondering how service will be. While it's still early in the season, your report does give us a glimpse of what we might expect.

We've cruised on Celebrity Cruises many times and hope you enjoyed your experience enough to give them a another chance 😉

Thank you, @LadyL1 for this informative and honest review. A sold out for weather cruise is surely a challenge for everyone. 

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

‘spot the child’

Great game 😉

On 6/3/2023 at 12:43 PM, chemmo said:

We usually cruise in suites so have the option of Luminae on sea days but rarely go there. Quite simply we don’t always want the ‘formality’ of a sit down three course meal. Instead we go for the buffet…I do so think many people underestimate the buffet and the range of choices. 

 

We look for the daily specials like ‘pie day’ (I will miss breakfast to enjoy pie day) or they will sometimes declare a region like ‘Italian day’. Special days are listed in Today.

 

At least once per cruise we go for the Indian selection. Reliably good in our opinion.

 

When having full meals like these we tend to sit in the outside area at the back of the ship. Dining outside is always nice. We will usually on these days have a very light breakfast then have our lunch at 12ish before the cafe gets busy. No queuing, no waiting for drinks at this time and time enough to digest a larger meal before dinner. The cafe at this time has fresh food, good service and a pleasant ambiance. So different from between 1pm and 2pm where ‘hectic’ tends to describe the ambiance…

 

Alternatively we will often go to the buffet and get a made to order sandwich add a few chicken wings and a side salad and take it back to enjoy on the balcony or poolside.

 

Then of course there are burgers poolside too and as you said the spa cafe if you want a light meal.

 

We also like to visit sushi on five at lunch. Sometimes they have lunch offers but as it is pay per item you can just pick what you want. We tend to order things to share…

 

Finally, if you really fancy crashing on your balcony the charge for room service is worth paying. I do like their chicken noodle soup and their sandwiches with some of the best fries on the ship…
 

We never bother with the MDR as again a sit down more formal setting isn’t what we want on a sea day. However, it is another choice…

Thanks for the candid and honest detailing if the lunch offerings. We've enjoyed most of these options and are looking forward to revising some and trying something new as well

We're in Concierge class on our next cruise as we have been on some earlier cruises.

While we enjoy the sit down lunch on embarkation day, this single item does not make it break out cruise.

We are flattered by the bottle of sparkling wine offered to us when crossing in Concierge and Aqua, but as we're not fond of dry (sour) wines our cruise isn't ruined it we forget to have the bottle or if it's not delivered to our room.

Actually, we appreciate that each feel safe cruise is unique and even if Celebrity Cruises and the onboard staff work hard to make everything happen as in the brochure in a world full of supply chain issues and shortstaffing in the hospitality industry makes an impact. But, once on the ship we're on a cruise and it's so much better than being home 😉

So, no complaints from us 

I'm a TA who booked a TA without using the tools and tricks of a TA 😎

We got a CC on CC to collect points for our CC level. Looking forward to picking up our CC when we board for our TA 😉

Thank you for your great and detailed review 😎

We loved seeing the Celebrity Apex in Wonderful Copenhagen today as the Oslo-bound Pearl Seaways passed on her overnight ferry run

15 hours ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

Anything near the port is going to be congested. My recommendation would be to take a taxi or rideshare to the Rental Car Center at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and pick up your car there. Every rental company has a location there and are staffed for large volumes of passengers. You can then hit the road right away.

Thank you for your input - just what I was thinking 👍

Yup, my title may be a bit misleading because I'm actually looking for a car?

A few years ago we made landfall in Miami after a perfect transatlantic cruise. A number of other cruises ended the same morning in Miami and the AVIS office downtown was swamped. The wait was long and they expedited the cars to us as the were dropped by people going onto the cruise ships. We were eager to get on the road and start driving, but it seemed that the car rental company was totally surprised that we (and a lot of others) had preordered cars... This time I am holding reservations at both the FLL airport car rental office and the Port Everglades car rental office to expedite our transition from cruising the waves to cruising the streets.

So, what's your latest and best experience when it comes to picking up a post cruise AVIS rental car? Where's the best selection and the shortest wait?

On more than one occasion I've had large bills broken into smaller denominations at the casino cage. They're the ones with enough cash to split any amount into any selection of bills, provided it's within the same currency 💸💸💸

We were on the Reflection for 10 days last August ⛱️ and had a wonderful cruise. The ship was beautiful and well maintained - never saw any signs of wear or tear 🙂

Thanks for a very thorough review. Love it!

We're taking the Silhouette back to the US in the Fall and have booked a room similar to yours - loving your photos... It's like being there 👍

Think I got the gist of the packages, yet one question keep haunting me...

On the wonderful Reflection last summer we occasionally got Celebrity branded water in aluminum bottles that where tough to open and cut your lips when drinking. We did have the Premium package, yet got this less than premium tasting water.

So, on to the actual question... Have these bottles been retired? And replaces with genuine Evian water?

We truly enjoyed our transatlantic on the Celebrity Eclipse a few (is it really almost five 🤔) years ago. As many other cruisers we love sea days and having no less than six of them in a row way a genuine test.

What did we do? We enjoyed sleeping in and watching the sea go by and attend the diverse shows, talks and concerts. And before we knew it we had settled in a calm routine. Like many we did walked laps around the pool and lounged with a good e-book in the Martini Bar.

As the first week came to an end and we had enjoyed both Boston and New York we loved how the weather improved as the ship made way towards Bermuda. Again with more sea days, but as the weather improved too our routine shifted more outside.

All in all in off our best cruisers 👍

On 7/20/2022 at 7:20 PM, go.without.you said:

I use the app for adding events to my calendar. My favorite thing to do at breakfast is go thru the entire day adding a bunch of things to my calendar and then blowing them all off. The intentions are good but the follow thru, not so much.

Know the feeling 😉 We've always highlighted or made notes and almost never made it there anyways... so much to do and so little time 😏

24 minutes ago, davekathy said:

That takes care of the first two days of the cruise. 😂🍷

🤣