librarylady19

This is probably a good a place as any to add some photos of the Fitness Center. Sad to say, neither of us made it here during the entire duration of the cruise. My excuse the first couple of days was the motion of the ship, after that I was too relaxed to get motivated and settled for taking the stairs and turns around the upper decks for exercise:)

It looked like a very nice facility for those with more dedication to their physical fitness:

Chilled towels - nice touch...

Weights:

I had planned to sign up for a free spinning class with my Elite coupon but never made it!

This looks scary!

There is also a sauna available to all guests in the Aqua Spa changing room. Here are some photos from the men's area; the women's was similar.

To continue with Day 2....we were relaxing in the Persian Gardens on the divine heated loungers.

There are also a variety of saunas and steam rooms in this area for use by PG guests (AQ guests and those purchasing a PG pass).

Sauna, with ocean view:

Steam room:

Cold Room:

There was an aromatherapy steam room but I did not really notice too much aroma in there, as well as a hammam (which was just a very steamy room) and 2 sets of rain showers that were very chilly. We primarily used the loungers.

Wow! I like the lighted Sunset Bar stools. I wondered why they didn't have built in cushions on previous pics, now I know.

Have you known trivia to be at the Sunset Bar before? That would be great as we love trivia but hate being inside on sea days.

 

I think sales on Reflection cruises will be up due to your review. ;)

Well lets hope someone from Celebrity is reading this review then:o

Disclaimer - I am not a RCCL stockholder or a travel agent and have no vested economic interest in promoting Celebrity.

I do recall trivia being held at the Sunset Bar in other cruises, usually in the late afternoon. Nicer spot than the dark lounges IMO.

Do you know if they still have "free" on demand movies in the staterooms?

Don't know about that, but they do have adult movies - for a fee of course:) DH discovered this while flipping through the channels, before I told him to turn off the TV!!!

Thanks! You can always subscribe to the thread and get email notifications.

We were feeling a bit peckish after that rough game of trivia, and popped down to the Oceanview Cafe for some sushi (available at 5:30 p.m.) - always a tasty treat. There is a convenient staircase from the Sunset Bar to the OV Cafe, one deck below.

As many people were now getting ready for the first Formal Night, it seemed like a good time to visit Persian Gardens. This is another of our favorite S Class amenities. I actually met someone in line at the Mast Grill who was in Aquaclass who didn't know what the Persian Gardens were!! (Guess she didn't do her research :D)

The Reflection PG features a much larger room with double the number of heated loungers. I loved the soothing green tones in this room. It was always nice and quiet in here, with new-agey music playing softly to lull you to sleep.

In this picture, you can see the other half of the PG.

We headed back up to the Sunset Bar later in the afternoon to try our luck at trivia. We came in second but were given a couple of Celebrity lanyards anyway which were very handy for the rest of the cruise.

We enjoyed our time, even though it was a bit chilly!

The Sunset was beautiful.

I like how the bar stools light up as it gets dark.

This is living!!

Scott and I then went our separate ways. He to enjoy some "free time" and me to Michaels to attend the Cruise Critic gathering. We had a pretty good showing (I would estimate around 50 in attendance). Celebrity provided pastries and coffee; CD Paul Baya, Hotel Director Sue Richardson and Guest Relations Manager Alex were there. Roll call member Terry Tallent was kind enough to raffle off a number of Celebrity items that his wife had won at trivia and we all had an opportunity to introduce ourselves. Nice to put faces to names!!

Following the party, we held a cabin crawl that I had organized for the Roll Call. It was very interesting to see a variety of cabin types and configurations, and good exercise too! We visited balcony, concierge and aqua class cabins as well as an aqua suite.

We decided to spend a little time on our lovely balcony and ordered a late lunch from room service as were not so hungry to need a full meal. We ordered some appetizers; the food arrived earlier than scheduled and was very tasty. We also had a salad from the Aqua Spa cafe, which was conveniently only a short trip from our cabin.

Our first sea day continued with our first visit of the cruise to the fabulous Blu for breakfast. To tell you what a treat the breakfast here is, let me just say that DH Scott loves to sleep in on vacation but even he is happy to get up in time to enjoy breakfast in Blu!

Blu was as elegant as ever. It was evident that the room was larger than on Equinox and Eclipse (we also ate at Blu on Summit, but that has a completely different configuration).

This was our favorite section for dinner:

Our first experience of Blu on Reflection did not disappoint. We enjoyed a lovely, relaxing meal served by friendly, solicitous staff. I was so happy to see the pastry basket offered, the pretty butter roses and the delicious variety of breakfast offerings.

Do you think they "unpublished" this show because they were trying to avoid a big crowd? Do you remember around what time this show was?

Well, it was exactly secret, as CD Paul Baya mentioned it during the opening night show; not sure of the time - might have been around 10:00 p.m.I don't wear a watch and there are very few clocks on the ship.

Sandi, thanks so much for your review. Heading out on the Reflection next month. One question about the bedside cubbies. I read in another review that they are not very wide. In fact, they are too narrow to place an ipad horizontally. How wide would you imagine them to be. For me, this would be the best place for one of those cloth cubes you mentioned for above the bed. Thanks again so very much for all your thoughtfulness and attention to details in your review. REALLY ENJOYING IT!

You wouldn't be able to fit the storage cubes in the nightstand cubbies. They are approximately 7-8' wide; big enough for a Kindle or iPad mini, but not a full-size iPad definitely.

what time are the nightly shows? I wanna see them all so Im not sure what time to book our dinner to make it on time , when last time on cruise sometimes it was so full , we were not able to see the show :(

Show times varied - you can check the Celebrity Today's I have posted so far. There are always 2 performances of the main Theatre shows; we have never encountered a problem getting a seat for these. There have been SRO crowds in the smaller theatre, Celebrity Central, on other cruises (I didn't attend any shows here on the Reflection).

The issue is with any popular performances held in the Atrium area as the stage area and dance floor are very small and seating around the circumference of this area is limited.

Seizing the moment, I headed up to the Solarium to enjoy a dip in the pool and hot tub while it was also very sparsely populated.

The Solarium is one of my very favorite features of the S Class ships and this iteration did not disappoint - a lovely space.

I do believe there were extra rows of loungers due to the pool deck being wider.

I even got one of the coveted cabanas all to myself.

A note here about chair hogs: I did see some of this but not to the extent I have witnessed on other cruises. The bigger problem was people leaving mounds of used towels on loungers and walking off. I realize we are on vacation, but it's courteous to put the towels in the bins so other people know the chairs are unoccupied (I removed them myself more than once).

I overheard two people complaining that their items were removed from the chairs and I had to bite my tongue not to interject a choice comment there:)

Wow..day 1!!! This is an amazing review. Thank you so much. We sail on Reflection on March 2nd. I thought I was excited but now I am beyond excited!!! Can't wait to read more.

Hope I'm not going overboard with the details but I know I like these kind of reviews myself.

Day 2 - Sunday - At Sea

Despite taking copious amounts of motion-sickness meds in advance, I still awoke to that dreadful feeling of impending nausea. I learned on this route last year, that the best thing to do is not lay in bed but sit on the balcony and breathe deeply. That seemed to work. I was up quite early so decided to take advantage of the emptiness of the ship and headed to Cafe al Bacio for a bite to eat and drink to calm my stomach. A pot of ginger tea and an almond croissant did the trick.

Tea assortment (note the chocolate box at end of counter - tasty free chocolate squares!)

I often had my "first breakfast" at Cafe al Bacio and enjoyed the quiet to read and jot some notes for my review. I was pleasantly surprised how empty it was between 7-8 a.m. On past cruises, I've usually ordered capuccinos but discovered the "cafe americano" which is basically watered down espresso was a better way to get a good jolt of caffeine in the morning.

We were still going strong, so off to the Sky Lounge we went and caught the end of the Karaoke show which was followed by dancing to DJ Constantine. It was a lot of fun! Somehow, we never made it back on other nights because there were too many other things we wanted to do :(

I'm posting some pictures of the Sky Lounge, taken during daylight hours here; there have been many comments that the room is now too small, but I didn't feel that way. It was a nice space and the dance floor seemed adequate.

The Elite Captains Club events were held here (we did not attend as we had the premium drink package and the hours weren't that convenient for us). Others who attended such events might have a different perspective.

It was certainly a nice place to visit in the daytime for quiet and views of the sea.

Day 1 of our cruise finally ended at 1:00 a.m. as we returned to our lovely cabin where a freshly turned down bed, pillow chocolates and the Celebrity Today chock full of possibilities for the coming sea day waited....aaah, this is Modern Luxury.

Sorry to keep everyone hanging....work calls.

When I last left you, we were enjoying a drink in the Ensemble Lounge, listening to the jazz trio when a Lady Gaga lookalike strolled through the Lounge:confused:

We then heard music coming from the Entertainment Court and went to investigate.

There was an unpublished show underway, featuring a multitude of Lady Gagas and Tron-like male dancers.

It was very cool...however, and this was a problem at other performances too, there was just not enough room for everyone to see the show. Unless you camped out early in some of the prime seating locations (on Decks 3 and 4) it was difficult to see much of anything or you had an odd view from above. Another example of form over function.

Thanks so much for the review!! Can't wait to get on board the ship in April. Doing a 90 day health challenge before the cruise so that I can eat all of the delicious food that you have described!

Food photos coming soon!!

Thank you, Sandi, for the wonderful review and pictures. My wife and I, we also live in the Chicago suburbs, will be on the Reflection in cabin 2146 this February. Now, we are even more excited about the cruise, especially with the wind chill in the minus range. Bob and Joy

indeed. You will love thst cabin. I hope you have Desmond as your steward - superb service!!

Thanks for reposting the cabin pics link librarylady.

Those bedside tables look much better than the tiny tray ones on the other S class ships.

Did you like the fabric sofa as much as the leather ones? I like the lighter colour of the cream leather, but expect the new ones are more comfortable?

 

I'm really enjoying your review. I like how you tell it as it really was. Nothing is perfect, but I get the feeling you really, really liked Reflection and the new venues. Do you think you could go back to M class now?

 

I see what someone said about the rose sculpture in the atrium. Does it look better in real life? It looks to be in a very odd and inconvenient place on your pic.

 

Oops, too many questions I think :o

Thanks so much; I am glad the feeling that Im trying to convey is coming across. I did indeed love the ship but there were a few things that I thought fell short of the mark. Nothing to ruin a cruise by any means but worth noting for others interest and information.

I think it would be a change to go back to M class, but for the right itinerary we would do so. This cruise was definitely more about the ships than the ports for us.

I thought the couch was ok. I only sat on it once I think, but it was slightly less firm than the white pleather variety and probably more practical too. I agree that the white does look nicer.

As for the rose sculpture, it is in a rather odd place but not inconsistent with the integration of art throughout the ship. I don't think anyone thought about people having to dance around it though. There are other examples of form vs function that I will address during my review.

Vivian Clements:

We enjoyed listening to the jazz music from time to time but found other bars we liked better (particularly Michaels and the Molecular Bar) so didn't spend too much time here. The bartender was pretty inept when it came to prepare mixed drinks!! Here are the bar menus for those interested:

Here are some photos of Qsine, which I forgot to add earlier....long day

We had a lovely table for 2 by the window:

I liked the decor (which seemed identical to the Eclipse version) but felt that Qsine on Summit was a more impressive space occupying the former Conservatory and taking advantage of the round space and high ceilings.

Here are a few photos from the Opening Night Show:

Matt & Riley:

Orchestra (Rory on the far left):

The night was still young (and we didn't have to get up early in the morning) so we decided to check out the Ensemble Lounge, which had been one of our favorite bars on Eclipse.

Note: These photos were taken earlier in the day when it was light enough to get decent pictures!

The Vivian Clement Jazz Trio was playing a set.

We were finished with our dinner in plenty of time to get to the Theatre for the opening night show at 8:30 p.m.

I didn't really notice any changes to the theatre design and layout, although others might have.

The seats were comfortable and the views good; we never had trouble finding somewhere to sit. We liked to sit on the upper level (enter from Deck 4) as the view was quite good and you weren't trapped.

NOTE: bring a drink from one of the bars with you as there was not a lot of waiter service in the Theatre.

The show, hosted by CD Paul Baya, was pretty good. It featured snippets of acts to come, including the comedian Steve Caouette, the accapella group, acoustic guitar duo Matt & Riley and the Celebrity Orchestra (RORY!!!)....

Paul Baya was an OK CD for my money...I had really enjoyed Mike Gibb's energy, humor and accent on the Eclipse, and Paul was a different type...some have called him "full of himself." I could take him or leave him honestly. He did a fine job introducing the shows, and that's all I need from a CD. Never ran into him around the ship to meet him personally but that is of no consequence really.