Reflecting on the Reflection

[brightonbuoy]

Just returned from 3 night inaugural Caribbean sailing and the following 7 day sailing.

 

These are my thoughts on Reflection. Don't shoot the messenger, we are all entitled to an opinion.

 

I strongly believe that the extra floor of Aqua class suites and other suites has placed too many people on one ship especially as the facilities haven't really changed.

 

Maybe it was the demographic of the passengers, but we could not get a seat for any show in the theatre. There were queues in the buffet restaurant. Speciality restaurants were rushed off their feet and you could not get a reservation.

 

Bars were mobbed, even the usually quiet Cellar Masters was busy.

 

We usually enjoy breakfast and lunch in Aqua spa cafe, but resorted to in suite breakfast and queuing in lido restaurant for lunch as Aqua spa was full constantly. No loungers available in solarium either, all full.

 

We have been on every Solstice class ship. Usually around the same date from Miami. We have never experienced these problems on such a scale before.

 

I would say that the service onboard is excellent and the food probably the best we have ever had on Celebrity.

 

I did say that it could have been the type of passengers on this cruise. It was very elderly.

 

I will give it another go, but from this cruise I left feeling I would revert to the other Solstice class ships in future.

 

 

 

 

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[Binbrooklady]

We were on the 7 day cruise just ending in Miami yesterday. I agree that the theatre was very busy and if we were lucky, we got bar stools but one night I sat on the stairs. We relaxed on 15 and had no trouble with loungers but that could be as the more senior people did not want to be in the wind. The food and service was excellent.

[BettyCruiser]

I was on the 3 day cruise and my only complaint is the severely understaffing of bartenders and bar servers. On several occasions it took 15-20 minutes to get a drink at the bar, that is unacceptable, and that wasn't during the hour and half free drink fiasco, that was the usual state. But since they already had my money via the drink package maybe they aren't interested in providing good service. I hope that isn't a sign of things to come fleet wide:confused:

[librarylady19]

Are you saying I should book specialties now rather than wait till onboard?? Don't want to miss out on Qsine and lawn Club grille.

 

 

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[garycarla]

As said, do not shoot the messenger. I may agree with some comments, but not all. We were on the same 3 and 7 day.

 

Food was generally great. In Aqua, MDR, Buffet and Qusine for us. Blu was very busy most of the time. Always a quick seat. Usually slow wait service, and a bit noisy.

 

Theatre. Did not go to all shows, but those that did, were very busy. In the comedy theatre, people got a bit nasty. Maybe demographics of cruise - people that felt they needed to get their money's worth - no matter what!

 

We saw very little in lines at buffet. Busy, not no lines to speak of. Walk up for Select dining was difficult. And the guy working the desk was clueless.

 

For us, a GREAT cruise. Few issues. I will pass on a comment that was made by a few along the lines of "I will never, ever retire to South Florida. Too many of those people are just not happy with life". You can figure out what that means on your own.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[boogs]

Are you saying I should book specialties now rather than wait till onboard?? Don't want to miss out on Qsine and lawn Club grille.

 

 

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You can always make them in advance and then change them if you want when on board. That way you will be guaranteed the days and times you prefer. Also consider that you will have to pay the full price when reserving in advance, but when you board ask about any specials. We were able to get an 18% reduction in price for changing our reservations to the dining package after we boarded. Same days and times. We also went to Qsine a second time and asked about a discount for returning customers. We were given a 25% discount on that additional night. We found that as the days went by on our 14 day cruise, the specialty restaurants became busier. At the beginning of the cruise the places may have been less than half full, but on the later days they were often well patronized.

[seasearider]

We were on the 3 day and the 7 day.

 

The first was not perfect but we never had to wait for a drink at a paying bar including the irritating free drinks offer (1 whisky sour and 1 gin and tonic for us) vs refunding port fees for missing Nassau. The Elite Event was awful, walked out and never returned because there was no waiter service. The biggest question I have is how does a cruise we booked in the Spring of 2011 not a berth in Nassau in Dec. 2012? Also how cheap can it be that the port taxes and fees were not returned

 

The 7 day cruise was much better, but there was a snafu on our arrival time in San Juan. We had booked the "Flavors of San Juan" private tour. It started at 5pm and we were originally scheduled to arrive in San Juan at 3pm. Because of the delay, the tour operated via email gave us the option to cancel which we did. Oddly enough, we arrived in San Juan at 3:30 frustrated we missed/canceled our dinner arrangements.

 

On the brighter side, we loved the new outdoor area of the Oceanview Cafe. With the bar and sofas removed, there was no problem eating breakfast and lunch al fresco. The art on the ship is very interesting. To us the biggest improvement was the addition of the Lawn Club Grill. We ate there two times and both meals were fantastic. The three production shows fantastic and not to be missed.

[gambee]

Does anyone know if I book the 4 restaurant dinning package am I allowed to book all the reservations at that time or just one?

 

In RCCL when you book a package they allow you to book one day and then the other ones are done once you board the ship. I am still trying to decide which days to do specialty restaurants.

 

 

one more thing, can anyone tell me which nights were formal nights? and lobster was offered on the second formal, right?

[Ally3210]

I was also on the 3 night! And since it was my first cruise I really can't compare but I had a great time. Yes, I too could not understand how a port mixup like that could happen and although was disappointed since I had never been there, just made my sea day into a " spa" day! I was told the port charges would be refunded. We never had a problem getting seats for the main shows but one night we could not get into the comedy club. The food overall was good except I thought they could use a new pastry chef, hated the desserts and bread but didn't really care about that anyway. My husband though was pissed about the buffet breakfast with its warm milk and cold French toast. Again, I don't eat like that so I was fine and loved the outdoor seating. Everyone I met told me they liked the smaller Celebrity ships better so I booked the Summit for Oct. I'm kidda nervous cause I loved this ship and hope that I have not been spoiled booking this as my first cruise.

[Christine Frances]

I was also on the 3 night! And since it was my first cruise I really can't compare but I had a great time. Yes, I too could not understand how a port mixup like that could happen and although was disappointed since I had never been there, just made my sea day into a " spa" day! I was told the port charges would be refunded. We never had a problem getting seats for the main shows but one night we could not get into the comedy club. The food overall was good except I thought they could use a new pastry chef, hated the desserts and bread but didn't really care about that anyway. My husband though was pissed about the buffet breakfast with its warm milk and cold French toast. Again, I don't eat like that so I was fine and loved the outdoor seating. Everyone I met told me they liked the smaller Celebrity ships better so I booked the Summit for Oct. I'm kidda nervous cause I loved this ship and hope that I have not been spoiled booking this as my first cruise.

 

It's too bad your hubby didn't find the Belgian Waffle station where they cook them fresh to order:D:D:D They are totally addictive - just ask Texed!! Look for them on the Summit - if you can't find the waffle station, just ask!

[librarylady19]

I was also on the 3 night! And since it was my first cruise I really can't compare but I had a great time. Yes, I too could not understand how a port mixup like that could happen and although was disappointed since I had never been there, just made my sea day into a " spa" day! I was told the port charges would be refunded. We never had a problem getting seats for the main shows but one night we could not get into the comedy club. The food overall was good except I thought they could use a new pastry chef, hated the desserts and bread but didn't really care about that anyway. My husband though was pissed about the buffet breakfast with its warm milk and cold French toast. Again, I don't eat like that so I was fine and loved the outdoor seating. Everyone I met told me they liked the smaller Celebrity ships better so I booked the Summit for Oct. I'm kidda nervous cause I loved this ship and hope that I have not been spoiled booking this as my first cruise.

 

Personally, I prefer the S class ships to the M class - newer, more spacious, more dining options, the Solarium, Lawn Club, Persian Gardens...Summit, even after its refurbishment, felt cramped to me.

[Miss SeaBee]

I agree, Library Lady. My first Celebrity cruise was on Solstice, and I was sold to the Celebrity product forever! Next, we tried Millie, because I had heard so much about how I would love the smaller ship, but that was not true for me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my Millenium cruise very much, but the S class ship is definitely my favorite. My sister came with us on Millie for her first ever cruise, and she loved it. She will be joining us on Reflection in April. I keep telling her, wait 'til you see the S class ship!

[BettyCruiser]

I was also on the 3 night! And since it was my first cruise I really can't compare but I had a great time. Yes, I too could not understand how a port mixup like that could happen and although was disappointed since I had never been there, just made my sea day into a " spa" day! I was told the port charges would be refunded. We never had a problem getting seats for the main shows but one night we could not get into the comedy club. The food overall was good except I thought they could use a new pastry chef, hated the desserts and bread but didn't really care about that anyway. My husband though was pissed about the buffet breakfast with its warm milk and cold French toast. Again, I don't eat like that so I was fine and loved the outdoor seating. Everyone I met told me they liked the smaller Celebrity ships better so I booked the Summit for Oct. I'm kidda nervous cause I loved this ship and hope that I have not been spoiled booking this as my first cruise.

 

Part of the fun of cruising is trying the different ships. Right now my favorite ship is the Celebrity Century, which is a much smaller ship, but I still loved the Reflection and now I'm really excited about our Equinox cruise in 13 months! I also like the M class size and in general tend to like that size of ship.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Really looking forward to the Reflection on Saturday. Having just returned this morning from our second cruise on the Constellation (first was in 2008), I can say that we too prefer the Solstice class ships.

 

Tom

[islandchick]

We returned last week from the 1st Eastern Caribbean 7-day itinerary for the ship. It was fabulous. Here are a few sample pictures. Full Picture Albums are available here.

 

 

 

 

 

[The Big Booper]

It sounds like Celebrity did the same thing as Princess--add another passenger deck but no additional common areas. Boo. We haven't been on any of the Princess super grands (been on the Grand Princess and DW liked the size and passenger flow.)

 

Earlier in the thread someone mentioned that they liked the Lawn Club Grill. You can find it on the Silhouette.

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures are from Smile, successor to Webshots. We don't like Smile and will not pay the annual fee once the free grace period is over. So I don't know how long these links will be good.

[cruiserziggy]

We returned last week from the 1st Eastern Caribbean 7-day itinerary for the ship. It was fabulous. Here are a few sample pictures. Full Picture Albums are available here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoyed the pictures!

[FrankinPA]

Wow, these photos are fantastic. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Merry Christmas.

[Leesie6351]

We were on the Reflection 13 night TA that ended up having 9 straight sea days (yes we received our port charges bck for t he missed port of Tenerife and some compensation as well--we were in a 1A balcony cabin).

 

We never had a problem getting a seat for the shows (we had early MDR seating) or getting a lounger on the pool deck or seats in the Oceanview buffet. The only times we did have trouble getting seats or service was in the evening when we tried to use our free drink coupons (we are Elite and were given 3 drink coupons because there were too many Elite passengers on board to have the party). There were almost 2000 Elite members on board!!!!

 

I agree some of the staff were still learning the ropes (we were the 3rd sailing) but my party and I did not experience any problems and we gave our cruise rave reviews. Unfortunately, on a 3 day cruise everything is condensed into a very short time and there is no time to make up for baad first impressions.

 

Don't give on the Reflection--we loved her;););)

[Bosjoe]

Are you saying I should book specialties now rather than wait till onboard?? Don't want to miss out on Qsine and lawn Club grille.

 

 

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You will be fine on the 7 night cruise. 3 day cruises are short and alot of people book them. I booked mine when I got on the ship. No problems at all.

[chesapeake_traveler]

I just returned from the Reflection 12/15 cruise (7 days). I can honestly say I love the Eclipse far more. I agree that Reflection is crowded due to the addition of one deck for staterooms. It seems to me that new staterooms and suites were squeezed anywhere they would fit on Reflection. On my sailing, the elevators were like sardine cans, and I just couldn't deal with being that close to people I don't know. The elevators were a hot topic among guests, especially those using mobility scooters/chairs. I used the stairs most of the time which can be tough on the legs after climbing 15 decks.

 

The Opus dining room was arranged table to table. I could tell that tables were placed in areas where tables were not planned to be, to accomodate guests. There were tables in front of the stairwell, in the entrance ways of the waiter stations, and in areas I consider aisles. On the first night, I was bumped in the back of the head by a tray and people were hitting the back on my chair as they walked by, so I asked to be moved to another location. We were moved the following night, and I was so happy about the new location.

 

All in all, I loved the Eclipse so much that I saw everything on the Reflection that was no longer equal to the Eclipse. For example, the Sky Lounge on Reflection is aweful (dark and small) since being split in half to make room for more suites. The Sky Lounge on Eclipse is extremely beautiful during the day and night. It's a shame that guests can't experience this same beauty on the Reflection. The Reflection does not have a dance club like Quasar on Eclipse. I was really disappointed about seeing a boring, unused conference room in place of Quasar. If you want to dance, you have to go to the lobby or poolside at specific times which I found to be awkward. The lawn has been taken over by large, ugly cabanas called the Alcoves that face away from the ocean. I just don't get the point of the Alcoves, and I wouldn't pay $30 to rent one. I'd rather sit on the lawn with a picnic basket and look out across the sea or just eat outside on my stateroom veranda.

 

The one change I did like on the Reflection is the Hideaway which replaced the Earth Room on Eclipse. This is a cozy and fun area. The Theatre did not change, but the design is really pretty with a ceiling that reminds me of an Asian cocktail umbrella. I also like the lighting fixture above the main lobby which appears to be a modern florescent chandelier.

 

If you've never sailed on the Solstice, Eclipse, Silhouette, or Equinox, you most likely will not notice the changes; however there is still a lot more people on Reflection than the other Celebrity ships.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I just returned from the Reflection 12/15 cruise (7 days). I can honestly say I love the Eclipse far more. I agree that Reflection is crowded due to the addition of one deck for staterooms. It seems to me that new staterooms and suites were squeezed anywhere they would fit on Reflection. On my sailing, the elevators were like sardine cans, and I just couldn't deal with being that close to people I don't know. The elevators were a hot topic among guests, especially those using mobility scooters/chairs. I used the stairs most of the time which can be tough on the legs after climbing 15 decks.

 

The Opus dining room was arranged table to table. I could tell that tables were placed in areas where tables were not planned to be, to accomodate guests. There were tables in front of the stairwell, in the entrance ways of the waiter stations, and in areas I consider aisles. On the first night, I was bumped in the back of the head by a tray and people were hitting the back on my chair as they walked by, so I asked to be moved to another location. We were moved the following night, and I was so happy about the new location.

 

All in all, I loved the Eclipse so much that I saw everything on the Reflection that was no longer equal to the Eclipse. For example, the Sky Lounge on Reflection is aweful (dark and small) since being split in half to make room for more suites. The Sky Lounge on Eclipse is extremely beautiful during the day and night. It's a shame that guests can't experience this same beauty on the Reflection. The Reflection does not have a dance club like Quasar on Eclipse. I was really disappointed about seeing a boring, unused conference room in place of Quasar. If you want to dance, you have to go to the lobby or poolside at specific times which I found to be awkward. The lawn has been taken over by large, ugly cabanas called the Alcoves that face away from the ocean. I just don't get the point of the Alcoves, and I wouldn't pay $30 to rent one. I'd rather sit on the lawn with a picnic basket and look out across the sea or just eat outside on my stateroom veranda.

 

The one change I did like on the Reflection is the Hideaway which replaced the Earth Room on Eclipse. This is a cozy and fun area. The Theatre did not change, but the design is really pretty with a ceiling that reminds me of an Asian cocktail umbrella. I also like the lighting fixture above the main lobby which appears to be a modern florescent chandelier.

 

If you've never sailed on the Solstice, Eclipse, Silhouette, or Equinox, you most likely will not notice the changes; however there is still a lot more people on Reflection than the other Celebrity ships.

 

We've been on the Solstice and, most recently, the Eclipse. From what I can gather at THIS Travelocity webpage, the Reflection accommodates about 200 additional people compared to those two ships. I can see that putting extra strain in multiple places. One thing we enjoyed about the Solstice and Eclipse was the general uncrowded feeling. Hopefully we won't pick up too much on that come Saturday - but I'll be on the lookout. Going from a space ratio of 42 to 40 is not the end of the world, but it's chipping away at it - LOL. You can tell the bean counters were all over this, probably convincing the decision makers that "most people will barely notice any change at all... and look at the additional base revenue" (while they toast to their future profits)! ;)

 

Just off the Constellation two days ago which I see has a space ratio of 44 (best in the fleet), and there were times where it felt crowded - but I feel that sensation of crowding had more to do with the layout and flow in the public spaces.

 

This will be the first time we've booked an Aqua Class cabin, and Blu was one of the reasons. I have read reports that it's more crowded as well. Perhaps we will consider booking 2-3 nights in specialty restaurants after all (which is usually the only place we ate dinners to begin with). We steer clear of the MDR on any ship which has specialty restaurants.

 

Tom

[Janet987]

Reflecting on the Reflection, overall we had a great cruise and loved many design aspects of the new ship, but I agree with some of the criticisms by Chesapeake Traveler and prefer the Eclipse too.

 

To illustrate her comments on the MDR, we were one of many parties who had no table assignment the first night. Why was never explained; we had been confirmed for our seating for months. We were placed at a temporary table and assured we would be given a permanent table the next day. The waiter was efficient but understandably cool.

The next day received a card with table #601, but when taken there it was occupied by two couples not willing to move. It had obviously been added last minute in front of a waiter station and next to the stairs. Then we were told to take an empty table #203 next to it, which had an open bottle of wine on it. I suggested since we still didn't have a table assignment as they let others sit at ours and didn't want to take someone else's table, we would be happy with Select upstairs. Maitre'd agreed and told us to go there, where the Maitre'd there told us no room even though it was early with many tables and to return downstairs. Rather than wander around Opus any longer on formal night, we took the abandoned empty table which was very loud with a view of waiters scrapping plates. The next morning I spoke with guest relations, indicating that no table assignment by day three was not acceptable. The dining room manager finally called us back that morning, switched us to Select, and offered to make a reservation for that night, but we had already booked Lawn Club Grill. A decent recover in the end, but the noise and crowded feel was so unpleasant that we only returned once. I understand this is a new ship, with new dining room staff, and extra tables had to be added to limited space, but total confusion the second night should not have happened. Last four sailings we had been in Blu, but compared to MDR on Solstice, it was more crowded and disorganized for our sailing.

 

I agree about the alcoves as well, and would add that even the deck walk around them appears more crowded in. Talking to an employee in that area, he too thought the deck was actually narrower; it is not just an illusion of less space since the backs of the alcoves sit right at the edge of the lawn area. Two people can barely pass each other around that narrow deck walk.

 

Sorry I didn't meet Chesapeake Traveler but Celebrity did not send the list of names for a Connections gathering to the ship, so only 12 people who asked about it showed up. There was some coffee in Michael's Club for about 10 minutes, but when so few showed up (because no one had been invited) it was whisked away. No one from staff bothered to stop by to explain, nor did they offer to get the missing list and hold the gathering on the next sea day. Complete lack of interest in the 125 cruise critic passengers who had signed up for a program which might have benefited their reputation for good customer service, but rather became a disappointment.

 

Please remember we still enjoyed the cruise, had two terrific meals at Lawn Club and Qsine with superb service, were treated well by Angela the Captain's Club hostess, very happy with our cabin and had fantastic service from our attendants. "Life is Good" on a cruise, and I rarely am disappointed, but wanted to add our experience in the MDR to previous comments about crowding.

[katgio50]

We had select dining on the Reflection and agree with the crowding of the tables. We thought the food and service were excellent though--the best we have ever had in the MDR. The elevators were very crowded at all times, but it was never an issue for us. I thought the food was very poor at the CC events compared to our past sailings on the Solstice. Our cabin stewards were the best we have ever had also. We loved our cruise! (Dec.15)