Kteacher

I’m pretty sure they haven’t started the shorter sailings yet. We’re on an 8 night next week and then a five night right after which is one of their first shorter sailings.

9 minutes ago, buzz031 said:

Looking forward to following your posts, even though we’ll be on the same cruise (at least the first one). Safe travels!

Feel free to join in and post 👍

   I know, not another live Reflection review 🙃. This started out as just an 8 night cruise for us, but then last summer Celebrity switched Reflection to shorter sailings and stops at Coco Cay. We’ve been to Coco Cay many times, but not since it was revamped as “Perfect Day”, and the 4/21 Reflection sailing is the first time the ship is visiting. Once I saw that the cabin we were booked for the 4/13 leg was available for the next sailing the decision was made.

   Our first time on Reflection was 10 years ago for our 30th anniversary, and here we are, 10 years later celebrating our 40th on the Reflection. We’re booked in a CS, so will be dining in Luminae for most of our meals. I have Le Petit Chef booked for one night (don’t judge, I think it’s cute 😂), and Murano for dinner during the second part of the B2B. We may do some lunches at specialty restaurants but haven’t booked anything yet. Shoreside concierge contacted me by phone a few weeks ago, but the only things I was asked about was arrival time, any special occasions, and extra pillows or hangers. Suitcases are stuffed to the breaking point so extra hangers will definitely be needed.

   Speaking of suitcases, these beauties will be coming with us even though it is not May the fourth- We have a ridiculously early flight tomorrow and will be spending a few nights at the Kimpton Shorebreak in Ft Lauderdale. We haven’t stayed at this particular Kimpton property yet so are looking forward to checking it out. 

Wow! What a great itinerary, and love the video. I always love your posts. Can’t wait to read all about your adventure.

We were in YC on the Meraviglia last June and I did a comparison:

We’ll be on the Reflection’s first stop to Coco Cay. The last time we stopped there on a a RCI ship was before it was transformed to Perfect Day. We had a lot of OBC to use so booked the  Beach Club. I’m looking forward to checking it out, but a little nervous as one of the larger RCI ships, Wonder of the Seas, will be there on the same day. There’s been a few recent Reflection live reviews, but I’ll probably do some semblance of a live review of this stop.

We used City Stay in 2019 when we sailed out of Barcelona. The reasons we booked it were that we only had a few days to spend pre-cruise in Barcelona, we weren’t sure if we would ever get to go back, and had a list of places we really wanted to see. The City Stay package description covered most of the places on our list, the hotel was right off Las Ramblas, so we gave it a shot. We ended up with a private guide and driver for 2.5 days, a private wine tasting and tour of a vineyard (La Scala), front of the line and guided tour of La Sagrada, trip to Montserrat- we were very happy that we booked this. 
    Our guide was local, and a retired professor of architecture. She and the driver were phenomenal. Could we have pieced together everything on our own for less money? Maybe, but I’m not sure the experience would have been the same as what we received. 

I did the Women of Wine Tasting Experience on Mariner last May and loved it- enjoy!

Safe travels and thank you for taking us along on another great trip report! I always love your reviews. Reflection is one of our favorite ships ❤️.

5 minutes ago, abbydancer2003 said:

I'll try to gather info as I go. but on the desk, there's one Eurpoean on one side, and one American on the other.  There's a European next to the couch, and one next to the door of the penthouse.  That's all we've found so far.

 

Thank you! We are also in this same cabin for our TA in 2025.

Thank you for all the great photos of your cabin. We’re doing a TA on the Constellation in an Aqua SS so I’m loving this live review!

Thank you Charla! I always enjoy and appreciate your reviews. We’re also exploring other cruise lines. MSC YC was great, and we got a really good rate, but reviews lately have been mixed and prices have increased. Looking forward to your next adventure.

Thank you for all this information. We’re doing our first B2B next spring on the Reflection, staying in the same cabin, and wasn’t aware of any additional discount. We booked each leg separately- does that make a difference in having a discount applied ( booked one leg then a month or so later added the second leg)?

5 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

 

i read through your review and will be on liberty shortly. im aware the concierge is your point person since these ships dont have genies. for the food/drink you ordered on disembark day for you and your guests did you ask for specific things to be delivered to the cabin or just say we have X people and would like some food? also were you ever charged for the food and did you get any regularly delivered things or just called when you felt like something?

Sorry, can’t help with this question as we didn’t entertain in the cabin other than 2 additional people at sail away. There was a bottle of champagne and plates of fruit, shrimp, and macarons in the cabin on our arrival, so we ate those.

We sailed in a RS last May on the Mariner. Everything was amazing! Here’s the live review I did-

Yay! So happy to get to follow along on your trip! We booked an MSC cruise based on your last live trip report. We loved the YC experience, but haven’t booked another MSC cruise (yet). Thank you for bringing us along 👍

5 hours ago, RichYak said:

You didn't touch on the outdoor YC space vs Retreat sundeck at all. Seems to me to be a huge win for MSC vs. all but E-class ships.

Sorry about that.Yes, the YC sun deck (which includes the buffet area) is very spacious with plenty of loungers, towels and bar servers coming around with water, drinks, basically whatever you wanted they brought to you. The only negative I could find is there isn’t much shade.

We just returned from our first time on MSC, sailing in YC on the Meraviglia. This will be a comparison between the two experiences. We’ve sailed Retreat on Summit, Reflection, Equinox, and Edge in CS or RS. 
 

Pre-cruise planning and communication 

 There was no communication from YC prior to boarding. The MSC app was not the most user friendly, and it took several tries before I was able to attach a cc to our onboard account. Celebrity wins here as there has always been shoreside contact pre-cruise with questions about preferences and any specific requests, including specialty dining (more on that later)

Embarkation

We sailed out of Brooklyn, and I don’t think MSC has worked out all the kinks yet. YC guests are brought to a separate line for security, but this line crossed with wheelchair assist, so we were trying to let passengers in wheelchairs go in front of us, and MSC butler was waving to us to just push through. I’m not sure why it was set up so that the lines would cross, but it was chaotic. Once through security we were brought to a smaller room, checked in, then brought on board in small groups by a different butler. We boarded and were then herded to a spot near an elevator and told to wait while the butler took care of something for another guest. Again, chaotic because we were told to wait right where other passengers were boarding the ship. We were then brought up to the YC lounge and told to wait here until our cabin was ready. There was a long line forming behind one desk, and I soon found out this was to book any specialty dining, excursions, or shows. It took about 45 minutes waiting in line to book three specialty restaurants and two shows. Celebrity wins here, no question.

Retreat Lounge vs YC Lounge

The YC lounge was huge! It was also open almost around the clock, with a large bar area, different snacks put out through out the day and into the evening, multiple bar servers, and live music every evening. The YC concierge desk is near the lounge, and seemed to be staffed continually. MSC wins here. We really enjoyed the live music, the bar servers, snacks, the YC Director always around asking if anyone needed anything, and the size of the lounge.

Luminae vs MSC YC Restaurant (and YC buffet!)

Luminae can get a little hectic at times, depending on when you choose to eat. The YC restaurant is very large, so plenty of space for everyone. Food is subjective of course, but we thought the food in YC was really good to excellent. Staff were always around asking checking in to see if we needed anything. What we really liked was just upstairs was a full buffet for YC, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There were lots of options as well as a grill for individually prepared items. So food quality is a tie between the two, but slight edge to MSC for having the buffet option.

Cabin

We were in a Deluxe Balcony Suite, deck 16, right next to the lounge (there is even a secret door to the lounge next to the cabin!). The cabin is smaller, closer in size to a jr suite on Royal Caribbean. The bathroom is also on the small side, and there is about a three inch step up to enter the bathroom. There’s a small closet for hanging items and a small closet with shelves. There were no outlets by the bed, so luckily we had brought an extension cord for my husband’s cpap. The balcony was also on the small side, just large enough for two chairs with foot rests. The mini bar is stocked with water, sodas, juices, and Heineken (the only beer that was available). All YC cabins also get one bottle of spirits (we chose Absolut, and just brought it home with us as drinks were readily available in the lounge). Celebrity wins on cabin size and layout, MSC did a better job on butler service. It was outstanding- we were literally escorted everywhere on the ship we needed to go. The cabins were being serviced all day by the asst. butlers. Everything was always clean, everywhere.

Other observations 

Entertainment on MSC was different than what we are used to. There were included shows that you still needed a reservation for in the main theater and two different paid shows in the Carousel Lounge (12.00 if purchased ahead of time, 18.00 if purchased on the ship and includes one pre-made cocktail. No other drinks served, and the included cocktails were not great). The two paid shows were good, but I’m not sure I would pay for them if I were to cruise again on MSC. There was a Master Chef at Sea competition the last day, and we really enjoyed this.

 We pre-paid for a specialty dining package, three restaurants for 71.00 pp. The packages have a separate menu selection, which was fine. We ended up dining in Butcher’s Cut (steak house), Ocean Cay (seafood), and Kaito Teppanyaki for lunch on the three sea days. We felt the food was better in the YC restaurant than the specialty restaurants, so would not book them again on MSC. Celebrity wins here- we really like their specialty dining as well as dining events like Veuve Cliquot dinner and Daniel Boulud Chef’s Table.

Final Thoughts (and would we book another MSC cruise)

This was a great cruise. We loved the YC experience, and loved MSC’s private island (not going to get into private island debate right now…). The pricing for this cruise in a YC suite was about half what we have been paying for CS on Celebrity, so MSC definitely has the advantage on value for $$$. Would we book MSC again? Yes, if the pricing on MSC stays as competitive as it is now. We’d like to try some different itineraries, so I’ve started checking MSC for interesting looking sailings. Right now we have two Celebrity cruises booked for 2024, one in Aqua because the Retreat pricing was a little crazy. Hope this comparison helps anyone considering an MSC cruise.

1 hour ago, snmathe said:

I’m loving everything so far!

Embarkation was a little chaotic for us, but we are trying to go with the flow 👍

On our way as well, car service from western Ma. Driver brought someone to Meraviglia 2 weeks ago who loved the cruise 👍

8 hours ago, snmathe said:

We have 3 days until our wedding and 12 days until our cruise! Here is my first tip while preparing for your cruise to get here. JOIN THE FACEBOOK ROLL CALL PAGE TOO!!! I cannot stress this enough. I think it's sometimes more active than cruise critic. And you get info instant. 

 

When I sailed on Carnival a couple years ago, people on the Facebook page organized a teacher meet and great. I decided to do the same and I am now planning a teacher bar crawl 😂 this is another way to join the pages because you can connect with others beforehand and plan fun things like this! You can plan a meet and great for various things, not just professions. Think of a TV Show you love, post about it in the Facebook group and plan a meet and great at a bar. Like everyone who loves The Office, let's plan a pub crawl for Office fans! Most bars also have Mocktails too if you don't drink.

 

I am also an introvert. So it's very hard for me to make friends while on the cruise. This relieves some of that anxiety planning things ahead so I know I can go out and mingle and not have to worry about how I will start conversations. Also making a crawl with people who have things in common with me, will allow me to always have a topic in common with the people their. This will help tremendously with my anxiety 😅

 

If you have favorite drinks from bars on the ship, please let me know 🙂 I will be planning our bar crawl and will post it here next week in case you want to use it for a crawl on your cruise!

Omg, that was you 👍❤️. Recently retired after almost 25 years in elementary, primarily upper grades special education. I am absolutely down for an educator bar crawl- one of the sea days maybe?

We’re on this sailing as well in the YC- see you on board!

26 minutes ago, rolloman said:

You went aboard after I departed. We were supposed to have the same itinerary as you but we had 4 medical emergencies. We turned around two separate times to drop a total of 3 people off in Fort Lauderdale and when we returned there were 3 ambulances and a firetruck and one person leaving in handcuffs. So it sounds like you had a little better luck. But to recap-that is 5 medical emergencies in a 8 night span...unreal!!  By the way good thing you didn't eat in the MDR...it would have changed your mind on the "best food" you've had on a ship. 

Yes, we haven’t used the main dining room for meals for a long time. Specialty dining works best for us, so that’s where we go. 

Some final thoughts:

   The ship and our stateroom, RS (1620), exceeded our expectations. The cabin is gorgeous, and yes, we hated to leave. Would I book the RS again on an older ship/shorter itinerary? Absolutely. We were completely spoiled the entire time.

    The crew were outstanding everywhere we went. The suite concierge, Jennifer, made sure we had everything we needed. Chops staff were incredible (we miss Schubert already). 
     The food was some of the best we’ve had on ships. We ate breakfast every morning in Chops, and dined in Jamie’s twice, Chops, Izumi hibachi, Chef’s Table, and Playmakers for onion rings and wings on embarkation day. The only weak meal was the Taste of Royal.

    We are spending a few days in Disney before we go home, but I will post copies of the Cruise Compass soon as I can.

We’re officially off the ship, quickest ever. Jennifer, the suite concierge stayed with us all the way through and didn’t leave us until  she was sure we had all our luggage. Facial recognition is so much easier!

    Quick recap of Chef’s Table from last night: On the Mariner Chef’s Table takes place in the main dining room. I was a little concerned that it would be too noisy to hear the chef speaking to us, but it was fine. We’ve done Chef’s Table on other ships, so are familiar with the menu. Everything we tasted was wonderful. We would definitely do this again.