Reflection Review - Nov. 30 - WARNING - LONG READ

[Host Anne]

REFLECTION REVIEW – Nov. 30th – Dec. 7, 2014

We occasionally take an early December cruise because the Fall is a very busy work time for us and it’s nice to have a little time to relax before the holiday rush. With the 123GO promotion this year, an early December cruise was even more attractive and we selected Celebrity’s newest S-class ship, Reflection. The following is a review of our experience on board Reflection. It may (and probably does) differ from others. I try to provide fair and balanced reviews of our cruises. Here’s Reflection! I’m using a rating of "A" being “excellent” to "F" meaning “failure.”

 

 

I will post a link to photos when I have them posted (hopefully later this evening).

 

 

PRE-CRUISE HOTEL – HAMPTON INN BLUE LAGOON - A

We selected the Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon just south of Miami International Airport for our stay the evening before the cruise. They offer a nice stay and cruise parking package that includes transportation to the ship and parking for a week. It’s a nice hotel that we’ve used before. Upon arrival they gave us a choice of an 11:00 AM or Noon shuttle to the ship. We took the 11:00 AM and while the shuttle stopped at the other three ships in port with us, we were at Reflection about 11:45 AM.

 

CRUISE CRITIC PARTY – A+

Our party was on the morning of the second sea day at the Sunset Bar. At first I thought this was an odd location but it actually turned out GREAT! Many from our roll call turned out for an hour of mingling and refreshments. Alexander, the Cruise Director, attended with an array of Celebrity officers. Coffee and juices were served and the bar was opened for people to purchase drinks if they liked. I really like our group photo taken in front of the lawn club with the X smoke stack in the back. Thanks to all who attended, to Celebrity for hosting the party, and to Sharon (BigHairTexan) for doing such a great job on leading our roll call!

 

EMBARKATION - A

Embarkation was fine except that the computers that were apparently not working. We didn’t know this until day 2 when we got a note from Guest Relations that there was no credit card on file for us. The staff member checking us in swiped our credit card and didn’t indicate there was any problem. Not a big deal to give it to Guest Relations again but what I learned was that entering your credit card on line when doing on-line check-in prior to your cruise does no good. That information is not transferred to the ship so are required to have your card swiped again by the ship.

 

We arrived on board around 12:30. Grabbed a bite to eat at Oceanview Café and waited for cabins to be ready. An announcement was made about 1:15 that we could proceed to our cabin.

 

THE SHIP - A

Stateroom – A+

We were in 9270, a 1A bump cabin on deck 9 just off the game room. The benefit to this room is the oversized balcony. Plenty of room out here with two comfortable chairs that recline and a nice 36” round table. The cabin is nearly the same as all the other S-class ships except for one improvement. Gone is the faux leather, hard as a rock couch. While the couch is still not the most comfortable, it is now covered in a much nicer soft fabric. Great change.

 

The bathrooms in the S-Class cabins is still among the best at sea. Roomy, with sliding doors for the shower stall and plenty of storage. Nice shower amenities (shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, soap) and decent towels.

 

We like deck 9 because we like to walk instead of taking the elevators. This is a nice spot for walking up or down decks.

 

Public Spaces - A

Most of the public spaces on Reflection are the same as or very similar to all the other S-class ships with two major exceptions. The Sunset Bar is completely reconfigured and is now my favorite spot on the ship. It was for others, too, as it was packed all week. They moved the bar out into the middle of the deck and made it an oval that has seats all the way around it so you now have views of the ocean while sitting at the bar; bench seats with cushions and pillows have been added behind the bar and to either sides of it. Wooden dividing walls create smaller, intimate areas to gather. A series of tables with four chairs fill out the area. Overall, the design changes to this area are a big hit as was evidenced by the constant crowds that were here all week. It would be nice to have some musical entertainment here once in a while.

 

The second major change was the switching of Quasar (the disco) on deck 4 to a conference center. There are now two “meeting” rooms in this area that would be a great spot for business meetings.

 

Pool Area - A

The pools on Reflection mirror her sister ships but gone is the water feature on the main pool deck. This is now simply more deck space for additional chairs. Good move. On this cruise, while the pool decks were definitely crowded, you could always find pool lounge chairs. The Solarium is identical to those on the other S-class ships.

 

DINING - A

Main Dining Room – A+

The food in the Opus Restaurant (Main Dining Room) was probably the best overall dining room food we’ve had on a cruise. We only ate dinner here but every item we had was very good to excellent. The menus were varied with plenty of good options each evening. My beef medallions on the first formal night and my chateaubriand on the last formal night were as good as or better than selections in the specialty restaurants. Appetizers and soups were all outstanding and the pasta dishes were good (I’d often get these as my appetizer).

 

In additional to the food, the service was terrific. Lazaro, our waiter, had been our waiter a few years back on Constellation. It’s always nice to see a familiar face. His assistant, Esteban was pleasant and efficient. Our sommelier, Plamen, was among the best we’ve ever had on any ship. Despite the fact that we had the drink package (and I mean that sincerely), he kept our glasses full and was happy to provide drinks from the bar as well. It’s nice to see that cutbacks have not been made in the main dining room.

 

Our only issue in the main dining room was the location of our dinner table. We had selected late seating, traditional dining. We were in the very back section of the upper level of the dining room in what could be considered a “private” room. We were not part of the dining room. While this may have been OK, the upper level is considered “Select” dining. Our wait staff the first night even welcomed us to “Select” dining. They weren’t even told we were traditional dining. What’s the difference you ask? They are constantly turning tables and rearranging tables while trying to serve you. Several nights they were reconfiguring tables, taking chairs from some to place at another. It’s hectic and doesn’t give you that relaxed dining feel you get from traditional dining. We loved our tablemates and our servers so we ignored it and enjoyed our evenings. But I really wouldn’t want to sit in this area again.

 

 

Specialty Restaurants – A+

Tuscan Grill

We only dined at one specialty restaurant in the evening. Tuscan Grille was our choice for this cruise. As you’d expect, the service was great and the food outstanding. I enjoyed the onion soup, a small portion of lasagna as an appetizer and the rib eye steak. My husband had a Caprese salad, the ravioli and the rib eve. Each course was excellent as was our waiters and sommelier. I’d recommend Tuscan or any of the specialty restaurants for an evening.

 

Oceanview Café – C+

Breakfast B+ Lunch C- Cleanliness - C

Still the best laid out “buffet” at sea, the Oceanview is slipping in a couple of areas. They’ve once again changed their pizza. They are now using rectangular pre-made flat-bread type dough that they place toppings on. If you get a piece as it comes out of the oven, it’s OK. If you get a piece that has been on the warming tray for a few minutes it takes like cardboard. Don’t know why they made this change but it isn’t for the better.

 

There were long lines at the bar just inside Oceanview to get drinks and when I finally got a fresh squeezed orange juice (because they come with the beverage package), it was poured from a pitcher and it had definitely been watered down. We live in Florida and know what fresh squeezed orange juice tastes like. This tasted like water. In fact, the orange juice out of the dispenser in the back of the Oceanview was better.

 

Breakfast foods were very good (waffles, sausage, eggs from scratch) and many of the lunch time offerings were good (Mexican, sandwiches, etc). There did, however, seem to be fewer staff clearing tables, cleaning, serving drinks from the bar (you almost always had to go the bar yourself to get a drink) and for some reason, the tables themselves never really seemed clean. The floor around the food stations was often sticky as well. I couldn’t tell if this was due to fewer staff cleaning or what they were using to clean. But there was a noticeable difference in cleanliness in the Oceanview.

 

Mast Grill – B for food; C for service

This poorly designed area has suffered on ALL S-class ships. I can’t tell you if the one on Reflection was worse than the others but it certainly wasn’t any better. There are always long, long lines here. I’ll never understand why. The chef on the grill has plenty of burgers and hot dogs ready at all times (they only serve burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers and fries). It seems like it should be quick and easy to place them on the buns and add fries if requested. But for some reason, it seems like the servers are often standing there wondering what to do next. The fact that the condiments are placed almost in front of the crew where they hand you a plate doesn’t help, either. After guests get their plate, then they back up the line more while trying to get lettuce, tomato, etc. One day when the ketchup ran out, the staff looked at each other wondering who to call to get the dispenser refilled. I’m not making this up. I have no idea how long it took to get the dispenser refilled.

 

The hot dogs were good and the burgers ranged from good to burnt. Fries were fine. You could ask for a burger that wasn’t charred and they were happy to accommodate which was very nice.

 

The Porch – B+

One of the nicest spots on the ship, the Porch is a great place for lunch. You can see the ocean, the service was friendly and efficient and most of the food was good. I had the pork BBQ Panini. It was one of the best things I ate all week. However, my husband had a Reuben and it was one of the worst things he had. It was made with well-done roast beef instead of pastrami and had little flavor overall. The lemon meringue pie was very good (actually reminded me of a key lime pie as it was creamy). There is a $5 per person cover charge here. It was a nice change of pace on a sea day.

 

BEVERAGES & STAFFING

Bartenders & Servers – A+ Celebrity Management - F

Where to start discussing beverages. I could go on all day. As many of you know, Celebrity now offers drink packages and has had several promotions throughout the past year where the Classic beverage package is thrown in for free. On our cruise, we were told 1,800 people had the drink packages. Obviously, Celebrity knew how many people on board had a drink package before we got there. It’s in our record from the time we book.

 

One might then ask, “why on earth” was the ship short staffed when it came to the bars and lounges? So I asked. I discussed this with both the bar manager and the hotel manager. To my surprise, I was told the ship was fully staffed. I explained to both of them that I’ve been cruising since 1992 and have sailed on all of Celebrity’s ships except Infinity. I have never seen the lack of bartenders and bar servers that we had on this ship. Certainly people are going to drink more with a package but from the time we boarded, lines at bars were endless. Passengers typically head for drinks at Sailaway regardless of whether or not they have a drink package. From the moment we stepped on board, the bars were swamped. There was virtually no way to sit in a lounge or at an outdoor bar and have a bar server actually take your drink order and get a drink in a reasonable amount of time (unless you went to Michael’s Club at the beginning of the cruise but even that changed as the cruise went on).

 

Many gave up and just crowded around the bars to get a bartender’s attention. In some instances a bartender was alone behind the bar. One evening in Ensemble Lounge, the a cappella group was scheduled to sing from 7:30 – 8:15. When we arrived at 7:20, there wasn’t a seat to be found; people were crowded around the bars and the bartender was alone behind the bar. There were two bar servers trying to get to guests seated throughout the lounge but it just wasn’t possible. I felt like I should have jumped up and started helping them. The bar servers were even going behind the bar to get drinks for customers because it wasn’t possible for the bartender to take care of the lines around the bar and get drinks for the bar servers, too. About 8:10 as Uncommon Ground was wrapping up their set, a bar manager and other bartender arrived to help. By then, it was too late. People were leaving by the time they arrived. This happened all week in all bars and lounges (and Café al Bacio). Regular Celebrity cruisers were very surprised by the lack of crew. Those new to Celebrity didn’t know any better but several commented they were going back to Carnival because “at least there we can get a drink.”

 

Granted, there were two large groups on board and I’m guessing most of them had a drink package. But as I said before, Celebrity knew the number of packages before the cruise set sail. They should either have anticipated some type of increased demand or else they just didn’t care and figured guests could wait a long time for a drink (often in long lines) and crew could go crazy trying to keep up.

 

Celebrity has created a monster with the drink package giveaway and now they need to figure out how to deal with it. While I thought most passengers were kind and understanding to the bartenders and bar servers, the situation was unfair to passengers and crew alike. The crew did their very best to meet demand but it wasn’t possible with the number of staff.

 

To top it off, bars often ran out of popular brands – Bud Light, Captain Morgan, Baileys (one bartender ran down to another bar one evening to get another bottle). There was no method to the madness of keeping bars stocked and serving passengers. Bartenders and servers get an A+ for going above and beyond to work in this situation. Celebrity management gets an F for lack of preparation and providing sufficient staffing.

 

ENTERTAINMENT A - C

Activities Staff – A

Overall, this was the best activities staff we’ve had on a cruise. Each and every one of them was pleasant, funny and friendly. They offered a wide variety of activities from the traditional trivia and bingo to some new things like the “Extreme Race,” a version of the Amazing Race that was a progressive event that took place on all sea days. Alexander, the cruise director, was great as well. Kudos to the entire staff.

 

Musicians – C

Of all the Celebrity cruises we’ve been on, the live musicians on this ship were the least appealing of all. The Celebrity Orchestra and the jazz band in Ensemble Lounge were very good. However, the party band, the duo that played electric keyboard and guitar, a piano player (not a piano bar player) and the DJs (OK, I know they aren’t musicians) all left something to be desired. They had two DJs on this cruise. One played music in the Martini Bar (is that really necessary?) and the other played music for the deck parties and in Sky Lounge? Is this a sign of things to come from Celebrity? Fewer live musicians and more DJs or piped in music?

 

A Capella Group – A

One of the best things Celebrity has done over the past ten years was add A Capella groups to their ships. Uncommon Ground on Reflection was no different. They were outstanding and drew crowds wherever they performed.

 

Production Shows - A

Reflection had a great cast of singers and dancers and REFLECTION, the Show, was one of the best production shows I’ve seen on a ship. Set to a wide variety of rock and roll songs, the show included several Cirque du Soleil type performers who were unbelievably talented. The other two shows were good as well but typical Broadway type shows you normally see on ships.

 

Other Entertainment – A

The other featured entertainment (Sin City from Las Vegas and a juggler/comedian) were both very good.

 

Piped in and Deck Party Music - F

The issues we experienced with the bar service was a major issue but as crazy as this sounds, the music played in many parts of the ships, by some of the activities staff at time and at the deck parties is as big a concern of mine or perhaps even bigger than the staffing issue. I say that because it goes to the heart of what Celebrity might be trying to become.

 

Let’s start with the “rap!” Yep, I said “rap!” I like to think of myself as progressive for the most part. I have an appreciation for a wide variety of music. But I draw the line at rap. No matter how you cut it, rap does NOT reflect “modern luxury” that Celebrity is professing to be. We were reminded of the “Modern Luxury” theme many times by crew on the ship. Rap was played in the iLounge computer facility; in the bar outside the theater; in the shops (in fact they brought in a large speaker that they placed in the hallway to “enhance” the sound. REALLY CELEBRITY? Have you ever had a guest tell you on any survey that they want to hear rap on your ships?

 

I’m perfectly fine with techno music in the martini bar or in the Sky lounge for dancing but I don’t want to hear it played continuously around the ship throughout the day. And the Sailaway Deck Party when we left San Juan featured techno so loud that you literally could not hear a thing. I’ve never heard anything so loud on a ship in my life. What’s even worse is that there were a total of 8 people dancing and two of them were crew.

 

Add the obnoxiously loud music in the Grand Foyer most of the time that could be heard all the way up to deck 14 and you have to ask who is making the decision on what music to play on Celebrity ships and at what level?

 

I am very concerned about the direction that management is obviously taking Celebrity. I realize we have plenty of options on how to spend our vacation dollars. We will seriously be evaluating other options if the trend of Modern Luxury continues to provide rap and music so loud you can’t hear a person speaking to you.

 

SERVICE

Stateroom Attendants – A+

Our stateroom was very well kept by two very friendly attendants. The only issue with our cabin was some damage to the cabinet in our bathroom that had to happen during installation and wasn’t repaired and isn’t repairable at this time unless they take the bathroom counter apart. Any request was answered promptly.

 

Dining Room Wait Staff – A+

We were fortunate enough to have a waiter we had several years ago on Constellation. Lazaro’s infectious smile, along with his always smiling assistant, Esteban, made dinners very pleasant. No request was too much (I like to order the pasta dish as an appetizer some evening). Couldn’t have asked for better service.

 

Dining Room Sommelier – A+

Like many others on this cruise, we had the classic drink package. Unlike our last cruise on Silhouette where the sommelier barely wanted to serve us in the dining room, our sommelier this time, Plamen, was always around, always refilling wine glasses, always smiling.

 

Tuscan Grill Staff – A+

In all likelihood the best managed areas on Celebrity ships, our Specialty restaurant experience at Tuscan Grill was like most of our previous visits to these dining outlets. From the service to the food, everything was excellent. The only challenge I see for the Specialty restaurants in the future is price. They are at a price point now that we are unlikely to try more than one on any given cruise.

 

GRATUITIES

I’m including this more as informational as anything else (although it is somewhat annoying). We’ve been leaving gratuities on our sea pass for some time now. It’s simple and easy. However, this cruise we had a situation in the dining room where I wanted to remove the gratuity for head waiter (or “dining room management” as it is now referred to on the Celebrity gratuity sheet I picked up at Guest Relations). We never saw a head waiter the entire cruise. I decided I’d much rather give the $18+ slated to go to “dining room management” to the hard working bartenders & servers. However, you cannot request a specific gratuity to be taken off your account, even though you are presented with a sheet detailing to the penny what the gratuities are for each person receiving them; they insist on removing ALL gratuities. Fortunately, we had sufficient cash with us to pay our gratuities to all service personnel so we did have them removed from our sea pass. However, keep this in mind in case you have a situation where you aren’t receiving service from someone. If you want to remove gratuities, you need to be prepared to pay the rest in cash.

 

PORTS OF CALL - A

We primarily took this cruise as a quick getaway after a long several months of a very busy work schedule. We mostly wanted to relax. Having been to the ports before, they were secondary to just getting away for a few days.

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Arrival into San Juan was a little before 3:00 PM. After being onboard for two days, we disembarked to go for a walk and get off the ship for a little while. We actually explored a very nice park to the west of pier. You could walk along way around the old walls of the city. It was a nice couple of hours on shore.

 

St. Thomas

Our normal routine for this stop is to head to St. John for the day. We were the third and fourth persons off the ship just a little before 8:00 AM and were at Red Hook by 8:20 to wait for the 9:00 AM ferry. After the 15 minute ferry ride we hopped in a tax for the ten minute ride to Trunk Bay. Arriving at Trunk before 9:30, it was relatively empty. Made our way down towards the end of the beach and enjoyed a very relaxing morning at one of the prettiest places anywhere.

 

We went back into Cruz Bay to meet an on-island friend for lunch and do a little shopping. Caught the 3:00 PM ferry back to St. Thomas and were back at the ship by 3:45.

 

Cost for this day on our own per person:

Roundtrip taxi from ship to Red Hook ferry: $20

Roundtrip ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay: $14

Roundtrip taxi from ferry to Trunk Bay: $12

Trunk Bay entrance fee $ 4

TOTAL $50

 

If you want to skip paying an entrance fee, Cinnamon Bay is just beyond Trunk and doesn’t have a fee, although it’s probably an extra couple of dollars in taxi fare.

 

St. Maarten

We took the water taxi from the pier into downtown Phillipsburg. It cost $7 per person to ride the taxi all day. It had three stops, one at either end of the long beach and one in the middle for the downtown shopping area. Did a little shopping here and found the prices on alcohol to be pretty good (and better than St. Thomas from what other passengers were saying).

 

 

WOW MOMENT

There was one WOW moment on this cruise. On the fourth night, Captain Athanasios Peppas strolled the dining room and randomly visited our dinner table. He had to make a concerted effort to find his way to our table tucked in the very back of the upper dining room. In all my years of cruising, we’ve never had the Captain roam the dining room and stop at our table to chat. Very, very nice touch, especially since we had two first time cruisers and two first time Celebrity cruisers at our table. It was a much appreciated gesture.

 

CAPTAIN’S CLUB CHANGES

We are now Elite Plus and I think the changes they’ve made to the program fairly compensate passengers for the money spent with Celebrity. While many of the benefits for Elite Plus are great, we didn’t use many of them on this cruise. We had the drink package so the afternoon cocktail hour wasn’t used. We did receive 208 internet minutes but we had such issues logging on to the system that we left many un-used. The laundry services are a nice addition but the last time I sent something to Celebrity laundry on our last cruise, it was lost so I hesitated to use the laundry this time. The 15% discount on our Specialty restaurant dinner was appreciated. Had we not had the drink package, several of the drink/wine coupons were nice. Also, the free scoop of gelato in Café al Bacio was great. There several coupons that make you buy something to get something which I don’t consider a benefit. I believe most were spa related. We realize that Celebrity doesn’t have to offer any perks so we definitely appreciate what they offering loyal members.

 

CUTBACKS

Does the hotel manager and bar manager stating they were fully staffed at the bars mean that Celebrity is now sailing with few crew in these areas? That raised a red flag for me so I took note of other areas that I noticed cutbacks were noticeable.

 

No Grand Brunch in the main dining room on one of the last sea days. This was a very nice added touch that was missed. No idea if it was for this sailing only or now a thing of the past.

 

Pizza ~ The only reason I can think of that Celebrity changed their pizza was to cut costs. It certainly wasn’t to offer a better product. On a typical cruise, there are often lines at the pizza station. Not so on this cruise.

 

Deli Meats on the deli trays in Oceanview were definitely downgraded. Instead of the nice fresh deli meats that were typical in the past, they are now pressed type packaged cold cuts.

 

The fresh squeezed orange juice (that you get in the drink package) in the Oceanview was definitely watered down.

 

All of the glass cases on decks 3 & 4 on the other ships that contain beautiful pieces of art contain liquor bottles, specialty dining menus, items from the on-board shops, etc on Reflection.

 

Entertainment – noticeable cutbacks here. No solo guitar player; no string quartet; no real piano bar player. Quality of live entertainers (except production cast, a cappella group and jazz band) was definitely a step down as well.

 

Tuscan Grille – While the food in here is great, the room doesn’t have personality like previous ships. All the art (tile work, etc) in the original two Tuscan Grille’s is gone. Plain walls.

 

 

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT IN MY OPINION

Casino Smoke - There was a horrible smoke smell in casino area that permeated through the shops along the port side of the ship and up to deck 5. I’ve never noticed this on other Celebrity ships in recent years.

 

Artwork - I realize art is subjective, but I didn’t care for most of the art on Reflection. I even thought some of the photos were inappropriate. A photo of teenagers smoking that included a girl with an open jacket and nothing underneath it just didn’t seem to fit Celebrity. You’ll get a chance to see it once I post photos this week.

 

Music throughout the ship (lobby, pool deck, shops area) WAY too loud the entire cruise. We hear many people talking about the level of the music being played.

 

Gratuities are added as one lump sum now and they are divided into odd “cents.” Waiter $3.71; assistant waiter $2.13; stateroom attendant $3.59; dining room management $1.21, etc. If you had poor service in one area (we had NO dining room management – NEVER saw a head waiter the entire cruise) you must remove ALL gratuities.

 

Photos – Celebrity is now charging $22.95 for a photo. It’s an 8 x 10 sheet with a 5 x 7 photo of guests on the left side, with three small photos of a port of call on the right? It’s beyond me why anyone would spend this amount of money for essentially a 5 x 7 photo. Then talk about all the wasted paper.

 

Internet was very intermittent. Difficulty in logging on many times. You’d log-in and when you hit “submit” it takes you right back to the log in screen. Staff in “iLounge” often talks to passengers in a condescending manner, like we don’t know what we are doing. We know satellite internet can be sensitive but when the same problem happens over and over again, we don’t appreciate being talked to like we’re clueless.

 

Disembarkation luggage tags and the accompanying letter didn’t match. We receive green Tags with the number 9; but the numbers in the letter we received with the tags referred luggage tag to numbers ranging from 45 – 57. I’m guessing someone didn’t update a letter. Our tablemates had the same problem. I’m sure others did as well.

 

Check your bill frequently for charges that are incorrect. Both our tablemates and we had bar charges on our bills for items that were covered in our package. Our tablemates were charged for bottled water (they had the premium package) and we were charged for a beer (Corona) that was included in the Classic package.

 

Drink Packages - It’s now impossible to receive a list of what drinks are included in which package. They have changed. Some drinks that were in the Classic package earlier this year are now $.50 more and have moved up to the Premium package but there is nowhere you can see a listing of what is included in what package. I requested the list from the bar manager but he only sent a list of Premium package items and it wasn’t even complete. My recommendation is to find a knowledgeable bartender and ask about your favorite drinks before you order so you know if they are included in your package. This info should really be available on Celebrity’s website so you know what you are purchasing before you sail. What are they trying to hide?

 

DISEMBARKATION – A+

We had an early disembarkation at 7:30. This was among the quickest and easiest we've ever had. Luggage is on carousels like the airport. Grabbed a porter, grabbed our luggage and we were through customs and in a taxi back to get our car within 20 minutes from the time we stepped off the ship.

 

IN SUMMARY

In closing, as always, we enjoyed our week meeting new friends and seeing crew we know again. The dining room food was terrific and the service from the staff, considering the circumstances, was terrific. I love being at sea and relaxing away from the world. I know I’ve highlighted a lot of areas that I think could use some improvement, but most didn’t impact our enjoyment of the cruise.

 

My only real concerns with Celebrity’s ideas of “modern luxury” was the trend to reduced staff on board and the proliferation of rap and loud music on a regular basis. These could impact our future decisions. I’ll keep you posted since we have a family and friends sailing next month.

 

Kudos to the hardworking crew onboard Reflection. We appreciate you!

 

Happy Cruising!

 

P.S. I know this is really long. If you want to ask questions, please do NOT use the quote button in this thread as it will copy the entire review! THANKS!

Edited December 8, 2013 by Host Anne

[portofrome]

Thank you very much for the review.

[Lsimon]

... The food in the Opus Restaurant (Main Dining Room) was probably the best overall dining room food we’ve had on a cruise. We only ate dinner here but every item we had was very good to excellent....

 

...based on a recent 10 night Med cruise I took in July, I just wanted to give you a heads-up that the MDR on Reflection is not very good. Food was lukewarm and nothing special. I have sailed on all the other Solstice class ships, some more than once, and have always been satisfied in MDR so my experience on Reflection came as a shock....

 

The second quote above was from a recent poster on another thread about the poster's experience a few months ago. Interesting how often you see such varied opinions and experiences on the same ship. In this case the cruises were a few months apart but sometimes you read such divergent reviews from different people who were on the same cruise.

 

Host Anne: I'm glad you had such a good experience and thank you for the nice review!

Edited December 8, 2013 by Lsimon

[Host Anne]

Larry ~ I just saw the post by wedding96. I always smile when experiences can differ so much. I've been on a lot of Celebrity ships and the main dining room food has always been somewhere between mostly good with some things very good to excellent. I'm serious....I was surprised how good the food was on this cruise. I thought the menus were varied and improved and the quality was definitely better. Our tablemates were very surprised how good the dining room food was. I suppose chefs can change and food quality can vary from European providers to US providers, I suppose. We were close to the kitchen (an upside of where we were seated) so maybe that helped our food always be hot.

 

I'd go back tonight for dinner if I could ;)

[jerseygirl3]

Thanks for a great, well-balanced review. Of all the things you mentioned, the two that concern me the most are the loud music and the bar service, or lack thereof.

 

When we were on Silhouette last year, the music EVERYWHERE was ridiculously loud and inappropriate for the setting. I thought someone mentioned that they had corrected this problem, but it sounds like it is ship-specific.

 

The bar service is a concern. I noticed it was very difficult to get a drink at the Sunset Bar last year on Silhouette. Hearing it appears to be ship-wide at this point is even more distressing.

 

We will be on Equinox next month (with a drink package that we upgraded to Premium) and I will be very unhappy if it is difficult to get a drink. And my DH lives for the fresh squeezed OJ. If the cutbacks that you noted become fleet wide, it may be time to start looking elsewhere to spend our cruise dollars.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Host Anne

[Host Anne]

Hi Tata ~ thanks for your comments. I'm with you all the way. When are you sailing Equinox? If we're on the same sailing we can compare notes.

 

I'm hoping on Equinox that they will truly be "squeezing" the oranges again. Never saw them do it on this cruise but the lines were always long.

 

Fingers crossed that we don't have the bar and music issues. We'll see!

[20pluscruises]

I heard there was a small virus going around...was this the case on your crusie date?

[Host Anne]

I heard there was a small virus going around...was this the case on your crusie date?

 

I did not hear of anyone being ill on our cruise but saw that someone else posted that they new people who were. Wash hands frequently. It does help!

[SusieV]

Thanks for your review. We're going on Silhouette in January and wondering if we need to be worried since they're such similar ships.

 

I'm just curious- you commented that photos were $22.95? We were on Summit in October and they were $29.95 for formal pics. It seems odd that pictures would be different prices on different ships!

 

I hope they start staffing the bars better!

[Texed]

Anne,

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[Keith1010]

Thank you for the very well written and very thorough review.

 

Keith

[20pluscruises]

I did not hear of anyone being ill on our cruise but saw that someone else posted that they new people who were. Wash hands frequently. It does help!

 

Thanks!!! This is a great review!!! :)

[bighairtexan]

I was on this cruise w/ Anne (HI THERE) and w/ very few and very minor disagreements, I'd echo her entire review. Amongst the best MDR food … except for a few misses (I still love the SPE offerings), beautiful ship, but very understaffed. I was disappointed and surprised not to have the Grand Brunch Buffet nor the 1 night evening concert on the lawn. (I looked for it and unless I missed it in the Daily, it didn't happen) Both things I normally enjoy on every cruise.

 

I really liked the game room w/ the various electronic games built into the table tops. Though on most RCI ships the game room has a view of the ocean which is really nice. This room was a bit claustrophobic. But that's a minuscule issue and many folks seemed to enjoy the room.

 

I never went to a show (rarely do) but the entertainment ship wide was mediocre at best. Pretty forgettable.

 

LOVED The Porch. It became a very popular lunch destination as the cruise progressed. Often a wait to be seated. Great addition IMHO. And I echo Host Anne. The pulled pork was STELLAR (as was the rare roast beef w/ chipotle aioli).

 

They offered daily art lessons w/ the "artist in residence" and we checked that out. We didn't sign up but the lessons were well attended.

 

I really enjoyed the ship but IMHO Celebrity needs to step up their staffing. Many of those workers were stretched beyond human limits. And there were only 30 kids aboard, so it's not like lots of the cabins had the 3rd or 4th berth filled. I even heard that due to the cruddy weather around the nation, there were some unfilled cabins as some folks missed flights to Miami.

 

Lastly, since a HUGE number of staff and crew on board are from the Philippines, Celebrity offered cruisers an opportunity to donate to disaster relief through World Vision. You could just add that to your SeaPass. Nice touch I thought. They made it known, made it easy to do, but didn't shove it down anyone's throat. When we went to donate, one of the Guest Relations staff overheard us adding a donation to our card, and she seemed genuinely grateful (she was from the Philippines but not the hardest hit area). She made a point of coming over and talking to us and offering her thanks for the folks on board. Very well handled. Classy touch, Celebrity.

[cle-guy]

I found your review to be exactly as I would have written. Maybe not so much in agreement on music levels, but that's always a very personal item of opinion. I like loud party (modern, rock, rap, pop) music at the pool all day. I think the pool is for partying, the solstice deck is for quiet relaxing. But I can't fault another for their opinion of course ;-)

 

Bars WAY understaffed. Only good part, I drank half as much as normal I suppose....

 

Sky lounge didn't have my preferred premium liquor only Martini and the buffet bar did (Grey Goose Orange Vodka). Several requests to stock it were met with deaf ears. I stopped going up there since I want enjoy my beverage of choice with premium liquor since I paid for the premium package, not be served the cheaper alternative side that's all they have.

 

Have any of the bartenders or Baristas at the coffee shop ever been taught the skill of "multi-tasking"? if so, I never noticed it on this ship!

 

I gave up many times trying to order at Martini, going up to Molecular , and even there had many long waits.

 

If they insist they are not short staffed, they need to implement some system of queuing system for drinks (pathetic yes...additional staff of course is the preferred method). I can't tell you haw many times they looked me in the eye to pass to someone else to order who just walked up. Sky lounge, my friend and I were seated at the bar, and watched them clear the orders around the bar skipping us 3 times over 14 minutes. I even sat there waiving my SUITE GUEST card at one point HOPING for something. Nada . He only wanted a heinekin and they kept passing....then you stand there thinking so do I have to be a jerk and yell at them because the other customers of course have no clue they stepped ahead me me but I can't yell at them across the bar either...

 

And as I was part of the large group, X has had this group annually for I can't remember how many years now (i think over 10?), so they should be WELL rehearsed by now to know to add additional staff even, not just "staff fully" as they said they had. And I know my group leaders certainly tell them to be ready for the group with staff and additional stock levels, because they want us happy and returning each year too. And this group grows by a hundred or so each year, so they shod be getting even FARTHER ahead of staffing now.

 

Will this turn me off Celebrity? No. But is is certainly annoying, and not part of the "Modern Luxury" claim.

[20pluscruises]

I found your review to be exactly as I would have written. Maybe not so much in agreement on music levels, but that's always a very personal item of opinion. I like loud party (modern, rock, rap, pop) music at the pool all day. I think the pool is for partying, the solstice deck is for quiet relaxing. But I can't fault another for their opinion of course ;-)

 

Bars WAY understaffed. Only good part, I drank half as much as normal I suppose....

 

Sky lounge didn't have my preferred premium liquor only Martini and the buffet bar did (Grey Goose Orange Vodka). Several requests to stock it were met with deaf ears. I stopped going up there since I want enjoy my beverage of choice with premium liquor since I paid for the premium package, not be served the cheaper alternative side that's all they have.

 

Have any of the bartenders or Baristas at the coffee shop ever been taught the skill of "multi-tasking"? if so, I never noticed it on this ship!

 

I gave up many times trying to order at Martini, going up to Molecular , and even there had many long waits.

 

If they insist they are not short staffed, they need to implement some system of queuing system for drinks (pathetic yes...additional staff of course is the preferred method). I can't tell you haw many times they looked me in the eye to pass to someone else to order who just walked up. Sky lounge, my friend and I were seated at the bar, and watched them clear the orders around the bar skipping us 3 times over 14 minutes. I even sat there waiving my SUITE GUEST card at one point HOPING for something. Nada . He only wanted a heinekin and they kept passing....then you stand there thinking so do I have to be a jerk and yell at them because the other customers of course have no clue they stepped ahead me me but I can't yell at them across the bar either...

 

And as I was part of the large group, X has had this group annually for I can't remember how many years now (i think over 10?), so they should be WELL rehearsed by now to know to add additional staff even, not just "staff fully" as they said they had. And I know my group leaders certainly tell them to be ready for the group with staff and additional stock levels, because they want us happy and returning each year too. And this group grows by a hundred or so each year, so they shod be getting even FARTHER ahead of staffing now.

 

Will this turn me off Celebrity? No. But is is certainly annoying, and not part of the "Modern Luxury" claim.

 

Wait. What? Only premium liquor at 2 bars?

[TRIPACIAN]

We were told by the cruise director on a recent cruise that Celebrity was definitely "going in a new direction" and wants to attract a younger customer base. He also said that the style and volume of the music was dictated from Miami and he could not change the music or lower the volume. This "more contemporary" music is suppose to appeal to a younger audience.

 

We were also told that the cruises with older passengers were not as profitable and that was part of this decision.

 

We are regular Celebrity cruisers but we are definitely looking for a change of pace and have booked cruises on Azamara, Oceania and Princess for 2014.

[SIGARSTEVE]

We just sailed with Host Anne on this cruise, and on a previous sail as well.

I thought her review was spot on and would like to add the following:

 

MDR food was wonderful but serving temp was lukewarm at best. Also noticed service was a little rushed as we usually were out by 10 and usually were seated for 2 hours at 2nd seating. Never saw a head waiter or management member except for the night he walked aroind with the Captain who we also met at table.

 

Bar service enough said & ditto. Don't like new prepaid cards at Cellar Masters to try the enomatic tastings. Probably would have tried more if you did not have to purchase in $50 increments and just used your room cards as in past. Missed piano player in Michaels Pub which was relatively empty every night. (Maybe a reason)

 

Not sure if this is a Celebrity policy or not, but DW likes to play slots and did not bring cash to play. Is used to charging with room card.

 

Anne-On a personal note we booked your room for next year on Silhouette got to check it out on disembarkation yesterday.

 

Steve & Marlane

[20pluscruises]

We were told by the cruise director on a recent cruise that Celebrity was definitely "going in a new direction" and wants to attract a younger customer base. He also said that the style and volume of the music was dictated from Miami and he could not change the music or lower the volume. This "more contemporary" music is suppose to appeal to a younger audience.

 

We were also told that the cruises with older passengers were not as profitable and that was part of this decision.

 

We are regular Celebrity cruisers but we are definitely looking for a change of pace and have booked cruises on Azamara, Oceania and Princess for 2014.

 

Ahhh...trying to chase out the (old) rats with the loud music, eh?

[Karynanne]

Anne, thank you for your review. We too felt that the food in MDR was excellent on Reflection.

 

Karyn

[kfowinst]

Thank you, what a fantastic review!

 

We are doing the same cruise for our honeymoon and cannot wait!

 

Please could you tell me which nights of the 7 day itinerary the formal nights are? You mentioned chateaubriand which we would like to try, which night did you have this please? I only ask so we know which night to book Murano for.

 

Thanks again :)

[MermaidWatcher]

REFLECTION REVIEW – Nov. 30th – Dec. 7, 2014

 

GRATUITIES

I’m including this more as informational as anything else (although it is somewhat annoying). We’ve been leaving gratuities on our sea pass for some time now. It’s simple and easy. However, this cruise we had a situation in the dining room where I wanted to remove the gratuity for head waiter (or “dining room management” as it is now referred to on the Celebrity gratuity sheet I picked up at Guest Relations). We never saw a head waiter the entire cruise. I decided I’d much rather give the $18+ slated to go to “dining room management” to the hard working bartenders & servers. However, you cannot request a specific gratuity to be taken off your account, even though you are presented with a sheet detailing to the penny what the gratuities are for each person receiving them; they insist on removing ALL gratuities. Fortunately, we had sufficient cash with us to pay our gratuities to all service personnel so we did have them removed from our sea pass. However, keep this in mind in case you have a situation where you aren’t receiving service from someone. If you want to remove gratuities, you need to be prepared to pay the rest in cash.

![/font]

 

As more and more lines seem to be adopting the auto gratuities policy, just thought I would mention this as informational. I don't know if this is just a Holland America policy, or pretty much standard but if you search the HAL board for "removing auto gratuities" you will find a discussions of this. It seems that a list is passed down to all staff managers of those passengers who have removed the auto tip, and they subsequently inform all those workers who are yours that all tips left to them must be turned in to management, and they will then be divided among the whole pool of your staffers(hope that makes sense). So in reality, the person you want to reward, may actually get less. Passengers have posted that while looking in the service areas for their cabin attendants, they have indeed seen these lists prominently posted. We feel as you do, and preferred the old days when you gave each staff member the envelope with the amount that you wanted. Don't think we should have to tip a head waiter who asks one time if everything is all right or a wine steward that we never utilize.

Edited December 8, 2013 by MermaidWatcher

[Janet987]

Ahhh...trying to chase out the (old) rats with the loud music, eh?

My 22 yo thought the music was too loud to the point of being painful. Even young adults would like to talk to others and actually hear what they are saying.

 

My addition to comments on inappropriate music for the time and location is that I am an early riser and enjoy watching the dawn…. sitting near the Sunset Bar with a coffee, by myself, at 5:30 AM with techno music blasting away just does not fit the mood.

 

Thank you Anne, for a very informative review. Were vouchers used for the Elite lounge this sailing?

Edited December 8, 2013 by Janet987

[Ontario Cruiser]

Mermaid Watcher is correct about the tips. I think that all cruise lines should build them into the cost of the cruise as it really upsets me that some people have them take them off their shipboard account and either pay less or not at all while others pay the daily amount Ontario Cruiser

[Fogtownrog]

That is scary. I never had that problem in January on the Reflection, but I notice how hard the bar folks worked. Thus I tipped generously. Sad to hear that there is a long line at the OceanView bar with folks waiting for freshly squeezed OJ. Oh well. I usually have my breakfast on the stern outdoor area...and take my coffee upstairs to the Sunset bar...and often take a nap....waiting for the Sunset bar to open. No line there.

[Cruising89143]

I found your review to be exactly as I would have written. Maybe not so much in agreement on music levels, but that's always a very personal item of opinion. I like loud party (modern, rock, rap, pop) music at the pool all day. I think the pool is for partying, the solstice deck is for quiet relaxing. But I can't fault another for their opinion of course ;-)

 

Bars WAY understaffed. Only good part, I drank half as much as normal I suppose....

 

Sky lounge didn't have my preferred premium liquor only Martini and the buffet bar did (Grey Goose Orange Vodka). Several requests to stock it were met with deaf ears. I stopped going up there since I want enjoy my beverage of choice with premium liquor since I paid for the premium package, not be served the cheaper alternative side that's all they have.

 

 

Have any of the bartenders or Baristas at the coffee shop ever been taught the skill of "multi-tasking"? if so, I never noticed it on this ship!

 

I gave up many times trying to order at Martini, going up to Molecular , and even there had many long waits.

 

If they insist they are not short staffed, they need to implement some system of queuing system for drinks (pathetic yes...additional staff of course is the preferred method). I can't tell you haw many times they looked me in the eye to pass to someone else to order who just walked up. Sky lounge, my friend and I were seated at the bar, and watched them clear the orders around the bar skipping us 3 times over 14 minutes. I even sat there waiving my SUITE GUEST card at one point HOPING for something. Nada . He only wanted a heinekin and they kept passing....then you stand there thinking so do I have to be a jerk and yell at them because the other customers of course have no clue they stepped ahead me me but I can't yell at them across the bar either...

 

And as I was part of the large group, X has had this group annually for I can't remember how many years now (i think over 10?), so they should be WELL rehearsed by now to know to add additional staff even, not just "staff fully" as they said they had. And I know my group leaders certainly tell them to be ready for the group with staff and additional stock levels, because they want us happy and returning each year too. And this group grows by a hundred or so each year, so they shod be getting even FARTHER ahead of staffing now.

 

Will this turn me off Celebrity? No. But is is certainly annoying, and not part of the "Modern Luxury" claim.

 

I'm in agreement with you on the music. I enjoyed it on my last Reflection cruise. The issues with the drink service sounds annoying. Hopefully X will look at the crew schedules to insure that they are scheduling properly during the peak times to handle the busier times.

 

Thanks to Anne for taking the time to share her thoughts.

Edited December 8, 2013 by cruisingator2