CruiseTimeAgain2

11 hours ago, Les43 said:

It’s a wrap!

 

Our cruise ended yesterday morning and we walked off the ship with our bags just after 6.30am. After such a relaxing cruise, the alarm going off was a rude awakening! I had organised a private transfer with Viator and they turned up on time and whisked us off to T2 at Barcelona airport. The airport was busy but the line to check in our bags at Ryanair was moving and we were soon through security and in the departure lounge. We had a bite to eat and a coffee and then headed to the gate. The flight boarded and left on time so all went to plan. The flight was scheduled to take 3 hours but only took 2 hours 25 mins so that was great although Edinburgh airport was chaos. They held us in the plane for half an hour while they decided which gate the plane was to go to and then the lines for passport control were very, very long as several flights had arrived at the same time. Once through that our bags didn’t take long and we picked up the car and headed home. We got home just after 3pm so not too bad.

 

A few final thoughts then about our cruise.  We both had a fantastic time and really enjoyed the 5 nights in Rome and the 10 night cruise. Celebrity were great as usual and we enjoyed Reflection for the second time. This was our first ‘retreat’ experience and we really enjoyed it. We loved the extra space in our Celebrity suite and also the separate bedroom although we thought the room was tired and in need of updating.  For example, the seal around the bath was discoloured as was the shower screen and there were marks on the surfaces of the furniture and on the balcony furniture. We thought our Butler (Kate) was good although we are not convinced we made full use of her services. Our stateroom attendant was disappointing and appeared to have a bit of an attitude, especially one day when we wanted to change for lunch to go to Luminae and he was less than pleased as he wanted to clean the room. We also weren’t hugely convinced about the cleaning. There was dust on the bedside lights and on embarkation day we got the sense the cleaning had been rushed and not quite finished. The public areas of the ship seemed in good condition and we didn’t spot any issues. 

 

We thought the food was excellent and we really enjoyed Luminae. We thought it was better than the MDR. We also thought the OVC was great too and no reduction in choice or quality. Service was excellent and staff were very cheerful and helpful. The bars were good and the drinks plentiful 🤪. We did not go to any of the shows so can’t comment but we thought the live music was disappointing and a bit bland this time. 
 

One tiny observation, we were surprised not to see more changes as a result of the pandemic. We were really surprised at the lack of hand sanitising stations around the ship and the fact that staff were not reminding folks to wash ‘ sanitise. It was like Covid has never happened.  We were not aware of anyone who was ill on the ship during the cruise although I did hear yesterday of one person who contracted COVID on Sunday. 

 

So, in summary, would we cruise Celebrity again? Oh yes and we are already considering summer 2025 ( we don’t like to cruise every year). Our one observation would be that we will avoid July in the Mediterranean again as the high temperatures were just too much for us. We will look at June or September. Would we book the retreat / suite class again ? Absolutely, we are converts especially with the extra space in the stateroom and the additional amenities. Although having looked at cruises in a Sky suite on the new Edge class ships, I think they are priced very high and way out of our league! 

 

Thanks to all of you for following along and to those on the cruise who have contributed.  I have enjoyed writing my first semi-live review and will certainly try one again. I hope it has been helpful and has allowed some of you to cruise vicariously with us! Until the next time……….🛳️⚓️🛳️❤️

I really enjoyed your review. All your pictures and information on Reflection made me fell like I was cruising also.

Thank You so much for taking us along

2 hours ago, Les43 said:

Hi folks - we spoke to Cranston earlier. He has two more cruises on this contract and then 2 months off. He isn’t sure where he will be after that but his preference is to stay with Reflection which will be headed to the Caribbean. That’s not confirmed though until he gets his new papers. 

Thank you for the information on Cranston. 

Thank you for doing the Reflection review, really enjoying your review 

 

Les43,

My wife and I would also be interested of Cranston’s schedule as we will be on Reflection on Nov 25, Dec 3 & Dec 9.

Really like seeing him.

3 hours ago, MikeMary4449 said:

Hi Les43, Thanks for your great review!  We are following along as we are doing this same itinerary and the following TA in October.  We think Cranston is a gem!  If you have a chance, could you ask him if he will be aboard for the October 9 and 19 sailings.  Please tell him Mike and Mary say "Hello" and we look forward to seeing him again!  TIA

What is the reason for the switch of 3 cruises from Reflection to Beyond?

What is Reflection going to be doing, Ship buy out or ship repairs 

I just called Celebrity today 6-12-2023 and was told the Ultimate Dining package is not available anymore. They said it has been gone for a while.

2 hours ago, Sleep7 said:

🙋‍♀️Well thanks so much aliaschief!!  I'm so happy to share every moment as it brings me great pleasure to relieve all the fond travel memories from last week.

That's awesome that you are going on the 2024 World Cruise! A dream come true!!😊

I am going to take a break for tonight and finish up tomorrow.

 

 

Sleep7,

Thank you so much for all the information and photos of your Onward cruise. Enjoyed reading about your port stops and travels.

Wife and I will be on the Onward December 22, 2023 Holiday cruise and seeing all of your photos of the ship get me even more excited. It just so happens we will be in the cabin rite next to the one you were in.

Thanks Again,

It would be really nice if you could share how you set up a travel router.

My I’ve and I have been on both Celebrity and Azamara. Celebrity has been our go to cruise line but we are looking to do more Azamara as Celebrity as lost some of its luster lately. We have a December 22 holiday cruise booked and looking forward to it. Azamaras dining room is ok but we do enjoy the Patio for lunch and some dinners. There Specialty Dining is excellent.The service on Azamara is excellent. We are looking see the Atlas bar on the Onward. We both like the smaller ship feel and their itinerary’s usually have some different ports. The Azamara Azmazing Evenings are great as the White Night. The uncrowned feel of the ship is nice and there are things to do but not nearly as many as a Celebrity ship.

Wife and I will be on the December 22, 2023 Onward Caribbean 14 Day Cruise.

S class Reflection and Silhouette are my favorite ships. M class is second choice. Do not care for Edge class ships.

We would go back to Holland America because of there longer Caribbean cruises and excellent service or Azamara because of there smaller ships which we really liked and excellent service.

My wife and I like Specialty Restaurants better. We have been getting the Specialty dining packages for each cruise. We may go to Luminae for breakfast some times. We normally sail on Reflection or Silhouette and they have Lawn Club Grill and the Porch which we really like

We were very sad when our two April/May New Zealand, Australia Hawaii cruises had to be cancelled. We are looking forward to the future five Caribbean cruises on Reflection we have booked in fall of 2020, spring of 2021 and fall of 2021. 

Wife and I are going and we have a New Zealand cruise in April and Sydney to Hawaii in April/May.

We can’t wait

I would go to the Lawn Club Grill. That is our favorite on Silhouette and Reflection. We have never been disappointed.

My wife and I were on Silhouette in March and booked them for the entire cruise. We love them. We come and go as we please, eat lunch and have a place to lounge in the shade with top up. We are on the Reflection this November and December on a b2b and have them booked for both.

With the pictures I have seen on the Equinox I am not sure I lie these. Not much shade.

I looked online and found 10 Hawaii cruises from April of 2018 thru May of 2020. It could be because they do not have need to advertise these.

We usually book onboard at the best deal available and also get a nice amount of onboard credit and lower deposit. We also turn over reservation to our local TA. We have used them for years and they have taken great care of us. Our TA also gives us a nice amount of on board credit also for the cruise.

This has worked for my wife and I and do not see a reason to change.

I was able to register for connections party for our cruise and received email confirming it just a few minutes ago.

We like the Lobster and Dover Sol the most. We enjoy almost everything that is on the menu.

Our travel agent just sent us the change today for our 11-26-17 cruise

I can finally log in and see my reservations, check in, and do everything I need to do. Took some time but they fixed it.

I have not been able to get into my account since beginning of June. I can sign in but can’t go anywhere but home page. At least my wife can get into her account and we can get Express Pass and do what we need to do

I have contacted Celebrity several time by email and phone but it still has not helped. I was contacted by the shoreside concierge to let me know they are working on many problems and hope to get to mine soon but that was a month ago.

I do check with captains club every so often just to make sure the 7 cruise we have booked are there and there is no problems. My TA also keeps a close watch and keeps me informed.

Maybe so day I will be able to log in

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My dear wife and I have booked the alcoves for a few days on our November Silhouette cruise. We are hoping we will enjoy them. Looking forward to the cruise.