My review a HAL fan tries Celebrity. Reflection April 5-12

[scubamommy!]

Great review. We just took our first Celebrity cruise on Constellation which was fantastic and booked Reflection for our next. Thanks for the review.

[elena7seas]

What a delightful review. Thank you so much for taking the time to post.

[foodgirl]

What a delightful review. Thank you so much for taking the time to post.

 

Glad you enjoyed it. I love reading reviews and have found many to be helpful to me in planning.

[hcat]

Enjoyed the review....the M. Kors store certainly is a draw !

How did you like the music on board?

 

Hopefully, you represent the new demo Celebrity is now seeking...will blend quite well with the longtime guests...what was the group on bd that were rowdy?

[hbrote]

Overall. We fell in love with Celebrity and booked another cruise for next year .

 

Thank You for your review, I enjoyed comparing your views on Celebrity to ours. We have cruised on Carnival and just completed our first Celebrity cruise. We agree almost one hundred percent with your experience as compared to our cruise on the Constellation. We also booked while aboard for a twelve day European in 2015. Thanks again....

[Queen of Oakville]

Thanks for the review.

 

We've only done one HAL, but so far it is my favourite ....looking forward to our first X cruise on Reflection!

[jgreenwo17]

I suffered a cruise drought from 1994 all the way to 2010. That 2010 cruise to Alaska from Seattle aboard the HAL Oosterdam really got me hooked. Like you, I enjoyed the service from the asian and Phillipino crew. I hope to sail with them again, but I am still having fun trying various cruiselines. Next up is the Solstice in 6 days. I hope I will be happily suprised like you were.

[upwarduk]

OP

Do you have a link to any pictures?

As we will be on Reflection next year, I am interested in how she differs from Eclipse.

Edited April 21, 2014 by upwarduk

[TeaBag]

Thank you so much for your well written review. I was very interested as we have often thought about trying HAL. However, Celebrity treats us so well we just keep coming back. We are on the Solstice next Monday also.

[keithm]

I will add one more thing. There were no Limes on this cruise and the poor bartenders did not know why. As I work in the food business I let them know there was a shortage and prices were sky high. Several passengers were getting upset with them and felt bad that they didn't have a good answer for them. I missed the limes as well but didn't let it ruin my cruise. I wanted to add this since there was a good deal of discussion on other threads.

We have a catering company. You really should try to eat at least once in the mdr. The food there is far better than what's in the buffet. What reason does your husband give? If it's the dresscode, I mean really..A decent pair of Khakis & a decent collared shirt is all you need on the nonformal nights. If it's the crowds, well it's pretyy crowded in the buffet as well.

[keithm]

I will add one more thing. There were no Limes on this cruise and the poor bartenders did not know why. As I work in the food business I let them know there was a shortage and prices were sky high. Several passengers were getting upset with them and felt bad that they didn't have a good answer for them. I missed the limes as well but didn't let it ruin my cruise. I wanted to add this since there was a good deal of discussion on other threads.

there has been a blight on limes,which has raised prices sky high. There a virus that's killed 30% of the infant pig population here in the US, so expect pork prices to rise as well.

[Cruising89143]

OP

Do you have a link to any pictures?

As we will be on Reflection next year, I am interested in how she differs from Eclipse.

 

I have photos of the Reflection in my link below from my two cruises on this ship.

[cruisinggran]

Thank you for the review. Very good. We have sailed on Hal many years ago and enjoyed it also we love Cunard. Celebrity is our choice these days. We have not been on the Reflection but we may have to try it out.:):)

Edited April 21, 2014 by cruisinggran

[We're The Groupnors]

Thanks for a great review! Reflection is up next for us, and we can't wait...only 8 months!

[foodgirl]

Enjoyed the review....the M. Kors store certainly is a draw !

How did you like the music on board?

 

Hopefully, you represent the new demo Celebrity is now seeking...will blend quite well with the longtime guests...what was the group on bd that were rowdy?

 

We liked most of the music although the pool band as others have reported was quite loud. As we stayed in the solarium during the day it didn't bother us. We enjoyed music in the other venues in the evening quite a bit. Nice variety for us.

[foodgirl]

We have a catering company. You really should try to eat at least once in the mdr. The food there is far better than what's in the buffet. What reason does your husband give? If it's the dresscode, I mean really..A decent pair of Khakis & a decent collared shirt is all you need on the nonformal nights. If it's the crowds, well it's pretyy crowded in the buffet as well.

 

One day I will get him to a dining room. He eats so fast and is done in less than 10 minutes. He just doesn't like the length of time it takes to eat. That is the main reason. I don't think it's a good one but I choose my battles. :)

[keithm]

One day I will get him to a dining room. He eats so fast and is done in less than 10 minutes. He just doesn't like the length of time it takes to eat. That is the main reason. I don't think it's a good one but I choose my battles. :)

Too bad he eats to live & not lives to eat. There's so much variety of food in the world. As Antie Mame would say.."Eat! Eat! Eat! The world is a banquet & most poor suckers are starving to death!"

[upwarduk]

I have photos of the Reflection in my link below from my two cruises on this ship.

 

Wow, wonderful.

Thanks.:)

[boingy300]

Thanks for the comparison. We are about to sail our 1st Celebrity (Many RCCL, 1 Disney, 1 Carnival and 1 Holland). Interestingly enough, Holland is the only cruise line where I did a pub crawl. The cruise director tied toilet paper bows around some of our heads (for NOT finishing our long island iced tea= sober) and I had to crawl on my hands and knees (bow still on) to get from the piano bar (for not finishing my drink), through the casino into the disco in order to complete the pub crawl. Simply put: on my "classiest cruise line" I ended up sober doing probably the trashiest (and most fun) thing I've ever done on a cruise ship.....and I'd do it again. My husband, who did finish his drink(s) was bow-less and walked in. Still a funny memory. I will never see those people again and had a blast. Good for you for being open to new experiences.

Karen

[foodgirl]

Thanks for the comparison. We are about to sail our 1st Celebrity (Many RCCL, 1 Disney, 1 Carnival and 1 Holland). Interestingly enough, Holland is the only cruise line where I did a pub crawl. The cruise director tied toilet paper bows around some of our heads (for NOT finishing our long island iced tea= sober) and I had to crawl on my hands and knees (bow still on) to get from the piano bar (for not finishing my drink), through the casino into the disco in order to complete the pub crawl. Simply put: on my "classiest cruise line" I ended up sober doing probably the trashiest (and most fun) thing I've ever done on a cruise ship.....and I'd do it again. My husband, who did finish his drink(s) was bow-less and walked in. Still a funny memory. I will never see those people again and had a blast. Good for you for being open to new experiences.

Karen

That is too funny....I have done my only pub crawl on HAL as well. What fun it was.

[foodgirl]

Too bad he eats to live & not lives to eat. There's so much variety of food in the world. As Antie Mame would say.."Eat! Eat! Eat! The world is a banquet & most poor suckers are starving to death!"

 

I will add that I am a chef and he eats pretty good at home most days so the interest in trying unique foods is not as strong as the average person. He is exposed to great food most of the time and he does enjoy eating although I think he should slow down as well. He learned this habit in the army and just hasn't let it go. They had to eat fast there. He promised me one day to try it out in the dining room. Maybe next cruise!! :)

[Cruising89143]

Wow, wonderful.

Thanks.:)

 

You're welcome. :)

[cbr663]

Thanks for your review. We have also only sailed on HAL and have our first X cruise booked for this winter. Can't wait to board the Reflection. We have an Aqua Class cabin booked and are so looking forward to the Persian Garden and dining at Blu. Like your DH, I hate the MDR and doubt very much that we will even visit it.

[hcat]

OP: Great review...thanks for posting

Cuisingator; thanks for photo links..Awesome!

 

In general....Hoping not to see CDs leading pub crawls on X...let's not give them any more new ways to Celebrate Modern Luxury!

Edited August 6, 2014 by hcat

[gowentgone]

Celebrity Reflection Review. April 5-12*

As a long time HAL cruiser I was curious to try another line. We are a married couple ages 46 me and 48 DH. As we cannot take longer cruises to Europe etc at this time due to work schedules we were getting limited as to what we could do with HAL and their Caribbean season was getting shorter. Having read much on these boards we decided to do a last minute (3 weeks out) on Celebrity. DH was not really excited at first because he loves HAL and knows what to expect so was a bit anxious. He is a smoker so was concerned about that as well.*

 

 

I won't review our travel to get to the ship as it was uneventful and not very interesting IMO. We arrived at the pier at 12:30 and dropped luggage and got in line. We waited 30 minutes to check in and quickly got to the ship. We met some folks in line that were part of a singles group of around 170 according to them. We saw them around them ship....more on that later.*

 

 

We booked an inside guarantee for a great price. Were in cabin 1031 which we found very convenient. The cabin was spacious and very comfortable. We had plenty of storage for our things. We loved the shower and that it didn't have a curtain. As a woman I really appreciated the bar to put your leg on for shaving. That was so nice. They also provided qtips and cotton balls. DH was so happy to see the larger TV as he watches movies at night before bed. The ability to book things and check your account was great. This is an area that HAL needs to improve. Our cabin steward Edwyn was one of the best we have ever had. We gave him extra tip to show our appreciation. We didn't see him much but every need was met in a timely manner and with a smile.*

 

 

Muster. This was a big change for us as we were in the main theatre and watched the safety video there. We were told where our lifeboat station was but didn't have to wait outside in the sun for everyone to show up. It was also nice to be able to hear the instructions clearly as it's sometimes noisy and windy out on deck with HAL.

 

 

The ship was beautiful and we were wowed from the moment we got onboard. I had researched the deck plans being the planner that I am so I told DH where the smoking areas were. I was really surprised by the number of smokers onboard. Every area where it was allowed was packed every day. I am sure it varies with every cruise but reading about how much non smokers love this line I was a little surprised. DH didn't have an issue and felt there was plenty of places for him to go smoke. He tries to be considerate of non smokers all the time anyway but wasn't sure how things would go on this non smoking crowd. It was one of the main reasons we hadn't tried Celebrity before. Just goes to show that things can get hyped over what is the reality many times. Enough on the smoking just sharing our thoughts on a much discussed topic.

 

 

 

We found our favorite spots on ship to hang out. DH fell in love with the sunset bar and we hung out there a lot. Obviously he liked the fact that he could smoke there but the view of the back of the ship was so awesome for sail away as you regulars already know. We did the drink package classic for DH and premium for me. I like my wines and totally loved having pellegrino and vitamin water between alcohol and with dinner. We loved cafe al bacio. The staff was awesome and the coffees and teas fabulous. They had our order after day one and I loved that they will serve you at the table so you don't have to wait in line. For those that cruise HAL I think this was an improvement over explorations in both taste of coffee and level of service. I also loved the fact that it was in the center of the ship so you could see other activity while there. When not at the sunset bar I lived in the solarium. As someone who can't stay out in the sun but loves the pool and hot tub I was in heaven. I read on my IPAD for much of every day and was so happy to not have to wear a hat or reapply sunscreen all day. The only gripe I had and it is small was there were no servers coming around to get drink orders like they do on HAL by the pool. Sometimes it can get annoying but I was being lazy and didn't want to get up. I got over it!! HAL has a center pool, the lido pool, that has shade but it is the family pool so I can't always relax even though it is not full of kids. Just noisier IMO.*

 

 

 

Food. Always a conversation. DH will not eat in the dining room and so we always eat at the buffet. We found the selection at every meal to be plenty every day. My only issue was omelette in the morning. I like them soft and no matter who was cooking it was always way over cooked and dry. Lunch and dinner was no issue at all. I found the choices on the salad bar and hot choices to be more than we have seen on HAL. We both loved that they had grilled meats to order and something carved every evening. Really nice. DH loved the pizza and we both enjoyed the burgers from mast grill although not nearly as good as the new dive in burger concept we tried on the Eurodam in December. It was really nice to have a coffee bar in the buffet so we could get our "good" coffee and not have to walk from another area of the ship to go eat breakfast. Always a gripe we had with HAL. There are so many choices on this ship and we talked to some who ate at Murano Qsine and the Lawn Club Grill. All said they enjoyed them. We didn't get to do those this time because we couldn't decide which one until the last night and reservations were not available. DH loved the gelato and had some several times during the week. It was located by the coffee bar on deck 5 which was very convenient. I tried a bite of the rum raisin and it was delicious. It was $4 for 2 scoops and he thought worth every penny. It seemed to do a brisk business every time we were there.*

 

 

 

Entertainment. IMO was so much better than HAL but then they aren't known for that. I enjoyed the production shows I saw and thought they did a great job. Loved having the bands play on the atrium level and you could sit in multiple areas to hear them and not be all crowded in one place. Joel Mason did 2 shows on this cruise. I went to see his Elton John show which I had already seen on HAL but loved it. He also did a new show that also very good. We enjoyed guitarist and vocalist Brandi Page at several venues on the ship. They had the marriage game which is always funny in the main theatre which was nice. HAL has it in the queens lounge typically and can get so crowded at times.*

 

 

 

Staff and service. We found the staff to be a little different than what we are used to on HAL and on the first day not sure we liked. The personality of the Phillipino and Indonesian crew on HAL is something we have always loved. But after the craziness of embarkation day and getting to know people we loved the crew. The guest relations staff was the friendliest and most helpful I have had on any cruise. The cruise director was Ian Cresswell and I thought he did a nice job when I saw him at shows. I don't put a great deal of concern on the CD as it doesn't make or break my cruise. We got to know the bartenders at the sunset bar. Thank you Sergio, Musa and Rey. They took great care of us and we also gave them extra tip at the end of the week which is something we had not done before for bartenders. The service was excellent and as soon as we showed up they had our drinks ready after day one. Awesome job!! The staff at cafe al bacio as I mentioned earlier was so great and the first time we have ever given extra gratuity to coffee staff. I apologize as I can't remember all the names but such good service.

 

 

 

Ports. Been to all of them and only got off the ship in St Maarten to do a little shopping. We stopped at San Juan and St Thomas as well. This cruise was about relaxing for us and that's what we did.*

 

 

 

The Lawn....had to mention this separately as I thought it was so cool. Bocci ball on deck and jazz on the lawn one night with wine and cheese. Such a great place to hang out. I had to lay on it a couple of times as I was on the ocean and rolling on the grass was so fun. I felt like a kid and DH laughed at me but I didn't care. The giant chairs were fun also and made for some great pictures. Also the alcoves that were available for rent looked really nice. I saw a few of them being used on sea days.

 

 

 

Drink package.... We both felt like we more than got our money's worth with these and were very happy to have purchased. Really nice to not have to sign the bill every time and worry about how much we have spent. No limits either which was awesome. DH had the classic package and thinks he will upgrade to premium next time to enjoy the waters and higher quality liquors. I was very happy with the wine list available by the glass much improved over HAL IMO.*

 

 

 

Shopping.... There were more options for shopping on this ship than what we see on HAL. I am a Michael Kors fan and had to be strong with a store on the shop. DH is a watch collector so he spent time in the Breitling and Omega stores. They also had a higher end clothing boutique and the usual makeup perfume liquor stores. There were also the usual cruise wear clothing along with costume jewelry cheap watch sets and the other souvenir stuff. Gotta have that rum cake don't you know. LOL. They had some nice children's things so I got a couple of things for my 6 year old niece. We didn't buy anything for ourselves this cruise but so nice to have more stores to browse in especially on sea days. We saw many people buying though.*

 

 

 

Dress code.....I asked about this before we left so I will give my observations. We saw many people dressed up for formal night. Quite a few tuxes and gowns. Everyone looked really nice. We don't dress up as we eat in the buffet but we did see many others in some form of causal dress all over the ship even on formal night.

We went to see a production show on formal night and sat in the balcony DH wore nice shorts and dressy shirt with collar. I was concerned about this after reading on the boards and Celebrity website that it wouldn't be allowed. He said he would leave if not ok but we saw many others dressed the same. Obviously the crew/captain decide this for each cruise as is not the policy. I wore a maxi dress every night and was perfectly ok wherever we went. We did stay at sunset bar a lot on formal nights and everyone there was casual in evenings so if you are like us and don't do the dress up thing it's a great spot to hang out and you can't beat the views. The lounges on the main decks around the restaurants were more dressed up so there is something for everyone IMO.*

 

 

 

Disembarkation. We always do self disembarkation and this was the easiest and fastest we have ever gotten off the shop. I liked that we went to an outside deck instead of winding through the hallways which are narrow on HAL. We breezed through customs and were on our way by 7:30.

 

 

Overall. We fell in love with Celebrity and booked another cruise for next year on the Silhouette. We took advantage of the pick your perk promo with the drink package as well as onboard credit which was awesome. While there were some things we didn't like they were small and not deal breakers. DH said the wait for elevators was annoying and that was probably his biggest gripe so not an issue really. We will still cruise on HAL but not as often just because we will now have more options that we can do in 7 days. Celebrity is a good fit for us and we are so glad we tried it out. Someday we will do the longer cruises but until we can it's nice to have choices. As we had already purchased drink packages and paid gratuities we had a very small bill at the end with only a clue of gift shop purchases and some gelato for DH. I think I covered the bulk of things. If anyone has questions let me know. I really appreciate reviews when I cruise so I hope mine was helpful to so,e of you. I have to give a shout out to Jessica who we met on the cruise and staying in touch with. We hope to cruise with you again.

 

Just a reminder that you can go to Celebrity website and sign up for the Captains Club and begin collecting points for some very nice benefits when you accrue points over time. Celebrity's reward program is excellent. Glad you enjoyed the trip and Celebrity. It is our favorite.