Reflection 3/8/14, not-so-long review of my 5-0

[mdhaugh]

My DH and I have an agreement that for our "milestone birthdays" we can celebrate them wherever we want. We are fortunate to be able to do this. My preference is always a cruise, so when I saw the deal for Aqua Class + bev package + prepaid gratuities to the very easy Eastern Caribbean, it was a no brainer for by birthday! We upgraded to premium package, and by the middle of the cruise we were calling our room key the Magical Card. Honestly, it has changed cruising for us, who have found creative ways in the past... we are NCL and HAL folks, but recall our last Celebrity cruise on the Horizon many years ago, and being foodies, we remembered that aspect fondly. That was then and this is now from a foodie perspective, but X still is a mostly elegant and classy cruise line....

 

I'll get the worst parts of the cruise out of the way first, as they are actually indicative of some of the attention to detail that Celebrity provides/doesn't provide.... 2 very different things: first, we had a rough sea day to start things off on our week, and since some folks do not come prepared for sea-sickness, someone had from the aroma clearly vomited in the hallway on the way to our cabin (no way to avoid it for about 8 cabins). There was nothing visible, but the stench was so bad you literally had to hold your breath from the elevator to the cabin door, and then some. This was not a secret to anyone, trust me. Amazingly, it took THREE DAYS for any marginal resolution to the carpet - - they sprinkled something on it and vacuumed it the next day, but it wasn't enough. Then, what a surprise! They resolved it finally by the 7th day of the cruise.... just in time for disembarkation. Yuck. I know that folks say to advise someone of the issue so it can be resolved in short order, but here it was clearly obvious to stewards, management, anyone who walked that hallway. Use an extraction machine and resolve the issue, X! It may be the reason that this cruise-loving couple does not book another on your cruiseline.

 

Second, and this is nothing like the above issue at all, but NO towel animals the whole cruise!!? We had a lovely aqua class balcony cabin, but never had a towel animal the whole cruise. This is one aspect I must admit in my many cruises I really enjoy! But I guess X doesn't do this, and the missing whimsy was too bad... can't we be elegant and whimsical?? The artwork around the ship would suggest so.

 

So if you're still reading, YES there were aspects that were great. I've read here that Reflection is beautiful, and it definitely is a beautiful elegant ship. I loved that we were not barraged with "Bingo!" announcements on the pa multiple times of the ship. In fact, with debark, we had to ask folks around us what numbers had been called because the overhead announcements were so few. That's a plus!!

 

We love the 'ship-within-a-ship' concept and like to zig when others are zagging, and it was pretty easy on Reflection to do this. Persian Gardens was a lovely and relaxing place, and tho' it was busy a couple of times, I was amazed how many folks do not take advantage of this lovely perk of Aqua Class.

 

Loved the Sunset Bar most days and the green grass of the Lawn, and enjoyed Blu morning and evening. Waitstaff and sommelier were fantastic. Early on we ordered "bubbles" with our appetizer, each night afterward we were greeted with flutes from him. If anything, I'd request that Celebrity add more of their MDR menu items to the Blu menu, so it wouldn't be so this-or-that with deciding where to dine. We did not do specialty restaurants because we wanted to give Blu a full run for the cruise, and at up to $40 per person at Lawn Club Grill, et al, it seemed excessively costly to try them.

 

Have I mentioned that the Prem Bev Package was awesome??? It was, totally. We were on this cruise for the relaxation, not the ports of call. But we went to a fabulous perfumery in St. Maarten (actually on the French side) and that was our only time off the ship. Zigging while others zagged, it was really nice to have the quiet ship environment.

 

Shows that we saw were good, only went to a couple but always saw the hypnotist! Ryan was great and did not disappoint. With the prem bvg package nightcaps, we happily turned in fairly early to our cabin and enjoyed a movie or the other tv entertainment to wind down.

 

So I ended up turning 50 in my favorite way, on a cruise ship! Everyone stayed healthy and weather was great! While I'd say we may not be sold on X for future cruises, I believe we may be the demographic they're trying to appeal to... everyone has their own style, for sure. Thank you for reading! With any cruise day being a happy day, Happy Cruising to my CC peeps!

[wpgcycler]

Great little glimpse of your cruise - thanks and Happy Birthday!

[matondo]

Thank you for your review. I can't imagine how awful the smell must have been in the hallway. YIKES!

 

We are getting ready to take our first cruise on X. How can their be no towel animals? I had towel animals every night on my 5 night Carnival cruise!

 

Still looking forward to my cruise on X and experiencing another cruise line.

[foodgirl]

Thanks for your review. We will be on reflection very soon and look forward to what Celebrity has to offer. As a HAL cruiser did you find the buffet to be similar to the Lido? We always eat there so very curious about it.

[Purplsmurf]

On our last Celebrity cruise we had towel animals every night! Our kids were in the cabin across from us with a different cabin steward and they did every night as well. Guess we will see what this year brings us next month when we sail again.

 

 

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[Go-Bucks!]

first, we had a rough sea day to start things off on our week, and since some folks do not come prepared for sea-sickness, someone had from the aroma clearly vomited in the hallway on the way to our cabin

 

Wow, I was on the same sailing as you but the weather couldn't have been more different. The first sea day was definitely not a rough sea day!! I keep a journal when on vacation - here's part of the entry for Sunday 3/9: "Woke up early because the sun was shining into the room. Beautiful sunny warm morning with calm seas. . . went to breakfast in the buffet. . . sat outside to watch the wake and enjoy the lovely day." Friday 3/14 was very windy with choppy seas starting in the middle of the night and continuing until about 6pm - maybe this is the day you were thinking of.

 

Second, and this is nothing like the above issue at all, but NO towel animals the whole cruise!!? We had a lovely aqua class balcony cabin, but never had a towel animal the whole cruise. This is one aspect I must admit in my many cruises I really enjoy! But I guess X doesn't do this, and the missing whimsy was too bad... can't we be elegant and whimsical??

 

I didn't realize that Celebrity made towel animals. Guess if you really want them each day then you might want to try sailing on Carnival.

[wallie5446]

Thanks for the affirmation that the main aspects of your sailing on the Reflection were "amazing" "loved it" "great" "did not disappoint", and "awesome" when compared to NCL and HAL. We will take those over towel animals every time.

[drarill]

Thanks for taking the time to share your cruise experience with us. We are looking forward to our cruise on the Reflection in July. BTW, we had towel animals every night on our last cruise on the Eclipse. ;)

[monicajay]

Did you go to guest services and complain of the odor?

 

I think they would have dealt with it.

 

Have to agree, that card is magical.

[cynbar]

Did you get any offers to eat in the specialty restaurants for 1/2 off? There have been reports that Reflection often offers that, on some nights at least, to their AQ guests because Blu is more likely to be crowded. Also, how was the food in Blu? We have done AQ on Eclipse so know what to expect, but I'd like to hear your perspective.

[fgc15527]

We also sailed on the 3/8/14 sailing of Reflection. This was our second cruise on Reflection - we originally sailed on a European Sailing in November 2012. We booked the same 1A stateroom - 7241 that has one of the largest balconys on the hump. I would highly recommend this cabin. The ship seemed very well run - the officers were very visible and participated in many activities - the cruise activities staff did a great job providing a wide range of things to do. I agree that the hypnotist/magician shows were great - I didn't like the juggler/beat box guy from Americas Got Talent - but others did. We had the free drink package for all three of us and found that it was such a great convenience and we enjoyed the flexibility it gave us for Cafe Bacio, wine at lunch etc... Shopped in Old San Juan. Megan's Bay in St. Thomas and Bernard's Tours to see the planes at Maho Beach, 90 minutes at Orient Beach and lunch at Sarafinas. (We did get two towel animals - seal and a monkey - I think it just depends on your cabin steward). Another great cruise!

[agathasmum]

We had towel animals on Silhouette last month, but I am not a fan. I don't like the idea of the steward ferreting through my belongings to accessorize his creation. Different people like different things, and I think the cabin steward has other more important tasks to be getting on with.

 

Really, you wouldn't cruiseCelebrity again because there were no towel animals? It certainly wouldn't make or break a cruise for me.

[cruisinforabruising]

I didn't realize that Celebrity made towel animals. Guess if you really want them each day then you might want to try sailing on Carnival.

 

 

We had towel animals on Silhouette last month, but I am not a fan. I don't like the idea of the steward ferreting through my belongings to accessorize his creation. Different people like different things, and I think the cabin steward has other more important tasks to be getting on with.

 

Really, you wouldn't cruiseCelebrity again because there were no towel animals? It certainly wouldn't make or break a cruise for me.

 

It really is amazing how condescending people are and how little people pay attention on this board. The OP did not make a big deal out of this and no where in the post do I read that because of towel animals would they not sail with Celebrity again. It depends on the cabin steward. Some make them some don't. So apparently the ones that do MUST HAVE COME FROM CARNIVAL right . Thank you for your review mdhaugh!

[SUSIEK]

Thank you for your review. I can't imagine how awful the smell must have been in the hallway. YIKES!

 

We are getting ready to take our first cruise on X. How can their be no towel animals? I had towel animals every night on my 5 night Carnival cruise!

 

Still looking forward to my cruise on X and experiencing another cruise line.

 

 

We were also on the 3/8 sailing. We did have towel animals every night! We were not in Aqua Class but in a standard balcony on deck 7.

[wallie5446]

The OP did not make a big deal out of this and no where in the post do I read that because of towel animals would they not sail with Celebrity again. !

 

In the last paragraph. "While I'd say we may not be sold on X for future cruises"

 

The smell in the hall, " may be the reason that this cruise-loving couple does not book another on your cruiseline"

Reads kinda close to it to me.:)

[nibird2]

In the year since our previous cruise Celebrity has dropped the string quartet, accapella singers, coffee cart in Ocean View for table service of coffee, Grand Buffet, reduced the number of choices in the Ocean view buffet and who knows what else. They have , however , managed to increase the fares.

 

By the way our Celebrity booked transfer to the Miami airport dropped 12 of us at the wrong terminal and REFUSED to right the problem. We had to walk well over a half mile, luggage in hand, to get things right.

[purpletequila]

It really is amazing how condescending people are and how little people pay attention on this board. The OP did not make a big deal out of this and no where in the post do I read that because of towel animals would they not sail with Celebrity again. It depends on the cabin steward. Some make them some don't. So apparently the ones that do MUST HAVE COME FROM CARNIVAL right . Thank you for your review mdhaugh!

 

Thank you for saying that. lol I was thinking it.

[mdhaugh]

Thank you everyone for your responses! To answer a couple of questions:

 

Buffet comparison to HAL: we try to avoid the buffet crowds in general as much as we can, but honestly the food in Celebrity's buffet was very very good. Better than I had anticipated. Lots of made-to-order things like stir-fries and breakfast items.

 

1/2 off specialty restaurants: we got voicemail msgs on at least 3 nights with offers of 1/2 price specialty restaurants on the ship... definitely the first night.

 

"that smell" in the hallway: with as strong as it was, and unmistakable, I did not consult guest relations on this item. In hindsight and in surprise that it took so long for them to resolve the issue, I guess I might have brought it up. But I'd already brought up to GS the fact that our Aqua Class bag o'amenities hadn't shown up by the 3rd day of the cruise, and they did get that resolved.

 

towel animals: no this is not a make/break deal for us at all, and clearly is determined by the luck-of-the-draw with which steward you get. I just like the whimsy of it, and wish it were more consistent is all.

 

Thanks again, just let me know if you have any other questions! - Deanna

[dodger1964]

We were also on this cruise. No towel animals. We had them a couple of nights n our last Mediterranean cruise a couple of nights on Equinox...i really think it just depends on the room steward.

 

I don't think (imho) that there were any sea days that even approached being rough sailing. My wife is pretty sensitive to the seas and had no issues on this cruise. I think the "magic card" used by a fellow passenger might have gotten the "smell" into the carpet, vs rough waters.

 

It was a great cruise for us as well, very relaxing. I still don't like getting to San Juan so late in the day, but it seems many cruise lines do the exact same thing.

 

Thanks for review.

[barbjd106]

We were also on this sailing.

 

If you are referring to deck 11 with regard to the smell, our cabin was a royal suite right there (1607) and the housekeepers worked there regularly to resolve it. At some points there was large equipment there and they closed the door between the cabins and the hallway to run this equipment.

 

We had no rough sea days that I experienced.

 

We did not get towel animals and do not like them anyway.

 

We were not crazy about the cruise because my husband enjoys trivia and the staff said they cut back on trivia because it does not go along with the idea of Modern Luxury. We cancelled a future Celebrity cruise and switched to Cunard for this reason.

 

Happy Sailing

 

Barbara

[gelo7]

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts.

[mdhaugh]

Barbara, you're right! We were in 1621. Thank you for the add'l explanation. It was just a bummer that it took so long to resolve it, and had to have adversely impacted your suite experience, just like it impacted our experience.

 

Happy sailing to you as well! Cunard is another line I've been thinking about... best wishes! - Deanna