Desertbelle

It's been a few years since we have been on a Celebrity cruise and I was wondering if they still have a flower shop/stand onboard. We will be on the Reflection out of Miami next month and I love flowers in my cabin. We are flying in very late (midnight) the night before and have an early pickup for the transportation service from the hotel to the port, so there won't be time to pick up flowers before getting to the port.

I agree, while they have many items available their color selections are very limited. I ran out of a Chanel product on a cruise and they carried it, just not in the color I normally used.

Also, the items are not cheaper onboard, though there is no sales tax and they are duty free.

Beware that the ATM's can be unusable if there is any disruption in the ship's internet (I have seen this on transatlantic cruises) and sometimes they are unavailable for other reasons, broken, I guess. I wouldn't depend on them as my only source of cash.

For someone who has never used private excursions . Stay with the ship ones.

Confusing advice since for everyone who has ever used a private excursion there was a first time. I think there are enough reviews on private excursions on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor to make a good decision.

As for last day excursions including an airport drop-off, we have done this several times and they are great, I highly recommend them. You get to see one last cool thing on your vacation (as opposed to sitting in an airport for 6+ hours) and you don't have to worry about your luggage or getting to the airport when you are done.

We have never been charged a penny to use and enjoy all the features of Cruise Critic. I'm glad they have found a way to pay their bills and still offer this space to us for free.

i am new to the aqua thing also, so, if my reservation says traditional 6pm, and i want to eat in mdr some night, do i have to go to an assigned table at a time i never eat - i prefer second seating, or by being aqua class, do i automatically become select in the mdr?

What everyone is saying is the it's a computer glitch that it shows that you have traditional dining....my reservation says Celebrity Select dining.:rolleyes:

If you are in Aqua Class you are assigned to Blu and you will eat breakfast and dinner in Blu (unless you prefer to eat at a specialty restaurant or the buffet) and you don't need reservations. You simply show up at Blu whenever you are ready to eat and you will be seated. :)

YIKES!!! Is it as bad as Jamaica? :eek:

Perhaps we were unlucky the day we were there but yes, much worse than Jamaica. I especially dislike it when the vendors touch me or engage me aggressively, and I have only had that happen to me in two places in the World, Cairo, Egypt at the Pyramids, and at the port of Grenada.

When we were in Grenada we tried to walk around out of the immediate port area and people would started following us, as in joined our small group, and they would start to talk to us like they were our tour guide, describing the immediate area, when we told them that we didn't want a tour guide they got rude and talked bad to us.

My sister and I gave up after a few blocks and returned to the safety of the ship but my husband was determined to see more of the island. He said that after a few more blocks they started to leave him alone and he enjoyed his time. I was rather scared he wouldn't return, but he did. :)

Maybe the best thing for Grenada is to take a planned tour to escape the port area...but, we generally enjoy strolling around and seeing things at our own pace.

Having done several crossings of the Atlantic it really does not matter.

 

Now a Pacific crossing heading to Asia is a bit different.

 

No worries about side but I would focus on location of your room on the deck.

 

Keith

You are not the only cruiser to have done multiple transatlantic cruises. Of course, you are welcome to your opinion but we prefer having the sunshine on our balcony....others may prefer more shade.

You can ask your steward to bring you a pitcher of ice water daily/twice daily for drinking. Cruise ships have very good tap water. We bring a water bottle to refill for taking ice water outside of our cabin.

I agree, starboard is preferable on an eastbound transatlantic cruise because of more sun exposure....which is fairly important because the sea days can be very chilly and you will enjoy your balcony more if it's a little warmer because of the sunshine.

For the 20Mar2016 Eclipse cruise, we lost Grenada for an overnight in Barbados. We were looking forward to Grenada, which isn't on that many itineraries, and didn't need yet another day in oft-visited Barbados. Especially on Easter Sunday/Monday, when even some of the major tourist attractions (Harrison's Cave for example) are closed. Poor decision, Celebrity! :mad:

In my opinion, Grenada is the worst Caribbean port there is. It's nearly impossible to walk around or enjoy because of the most aggressive vendors in the Caribbean. I wouldn't grieve too much over losing that over an extra day in Barbados.

I hope you realize that your review is going to make my next 29 days even harder to live through until we board Reflection. Thanks, thanks a lot!!! :p

Maybe RCI management might prefer deciding for themselves whether or not to refer its customers to competing cruise lines.

My guess is that RCI is smart enough to know you can't please everyone.

Margie, we've been Aqua from booking this cruise but online it shows 6 for dinner. Breakfast is the best. You can also ask for shrimp cocktail every night, they try to please you. One thing I'm thrilled about this time, you can go to the MDR if u don't like what's on Blu menu. We were on Silhouette when it first came to cape liberty, you could not eat in the dining room,

You will love aqua. Enjoy

 

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I am not a morning person but my favorite meal to eat out is breakfast! I'm going to have to make myself get up and going early on this cruise!! :p

.....OP....there are a number of items that aren't on the blu menu in addition to what you see. Escargot, onion soup, caesar salad with (or without) anchovies as well as mixed berries for dessert. I recommend trying all of those items....

Will try them all! Sounds yummy! My husband will LOVE the fresh berries!!

We booked the 16 night Reflection TA last June on a special package from our travel agent. Concierge Class, 2 nights in Rome in a 4 star hotel, transfers from Ship to Rome hotel, transfers hotel to airport and airfare to home, Rome to Las Vegas for $2249 pp (all taxes and fees included). We upgraded to Aqua class last week for $200. So, good deals can come at any time, you never know. (BTW, I booked the cruise about 20 minutes after the deal hit my email box!) :cool:

Also don't forget about breakfast. It's fabulous. Equiniox really knows how to poach an egg. I hope Reflection does as well, if that happens to be your preference. You will become familiar with all the servers quickly if you attend breakfast and dinner. 7:30 opening on port days, 8:00 on sea days.

Have a lovely time.

I love a good poached egg as well! I tend be a late sleeper on cruises, and miss most breakfasts, but now I have a good reason to get up early!

Desertbelle, congratulations on your upgrade. If you would like a window table in Blu, you will need to be there before the doors open (it was 5:45 on Eclipse but might differ a bit on Reflection), or wait about 1.5hrs for the tables to start turning over. These tables go first usually. Don't miss breakfast either. The Meusli made table side is wonderful.

 

BTW, on Millennium later this month in AQ we are down for Traditional dining at 6!! I just ignore it. Go when you want unless you want a window!

I saw that table side Muesli on the Blu breakfast menu and I was so happy. One of my favorite foods on Celebrity ships is the muesli in the buffet, and I have been looking forward to that since we booked this cruise, and now it's in Blu....yes, I am that woman who can get excited over good muesli!!:D

Exactly what I wanted to know, as usual Cruise Critic folks are in the know!! Thank you.

We got lucky and were able to get a CC to AQ upgrade for a great rate for our April Transatlantic cruise on the Reflection (way way cheaper than if we had booked Aqua class from the beginning). Our first time in Aqua and I am very excited!! :D

My question is that my online reservation shows us in Aqua class, the cabin number is correct, but it still says we are scheduled for Celebrity Select dining. I am not worried about them letting us eat in Blu when we get there, but I was wondering if I am supposed to be making reservations online for Blu like we do for Select dining? Or do people simply show up at Blu when they feel like it, no reservations required.

I understand you don't have to have reservations in Select dining but it does make it a little easier to get seated if you have a reserved time vs. a walk in. Same in Blu or not?

It appears that the 5 restaurant package deal for our cruise is 33% off the individual restaurant price. That seems like a pretty good deal to me. I would rather know I am saving 33% than to hope I might get 50% one or two restaurants. Plus, if one the restaurants we really like runs a special, there is no reason we can't do that in addition to what we already purchased...it's a 16 night cruise, lots of chances for a special meal. :)

Reflection is different than Equinox. 2106 is quite a bit more forward than on the Equinox. Totally different ships, I think.

I thought all the Solstice class ships were pretty much alike. Thanks for your response.

Interesting, we have this cabin, 2106, on the Reflection in April and it's an A1 (Aqua class) cabin. I wonder why it's a C2 on other ships?

It will be our first Aqua class cabin and I am looking forward to the location....and neither of us are light sleepers when cruising, so the noise from above shouldn't be a problem.

For an 11:15 am flight I don't think you need to be first off the ship. Make sure you have one of the lower numbers and you will be fine. If you walk off the ship by 8:30 you should be at the airport by 9:15. The cab ride is maybe 10 minutes and there will be hundreds of cabs waiting.

When we first started cruising every ship we booked was an old ship. They were mostly Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships and despite them being older they were in great shape and we enjoyed them very much. Then a few years ago we decided to try a fairly new ship.....wow, there was a difference. Not so much in cleanliness and upkeep (I think Celebrity and Royal Caribbean do a fantastic job of keeping their ships looking great) but in terms of, well, newness.:) More space, more options, less crowded (yes, even the bigger ships with more passengers seem less crowded....I know, it doesn't make sense) and a better ambiance. Now, we are rather hooked. Instead of booking a ship because of cost and itinerary with no regard to what ship, we now want the bigger, newer ships. But, it's a personal matter and you will make the choices that work for you.