shadowlover Posted January 11, 2016 #1 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Had a very nice week on reflection. Flew in day before to Ft Lauderdale and stayed at Towne Place Suites in Weston. This was near SawGrass mills shopping and we had a ball shopping with our young adult children as we waited for our room to be ready. Chose the hotel as we stayed with points and it was the least amount of points I have ever needed! Hotel was nice and included breakfast. Ate at Sweet Tomatoes which we always try to do when in Florida- such a treat. Rented a car at the airport and dropped off the next day in Miami downtown. We rented from Enterprise- 61 dollars for a full size car for 24 hours and no drop fee. My hubby dropped us off at the port at 10 am and returned the car. As it is one mile from the port, in the downtown area he decided to have a little jog back which he enjoyed! We were on the ship by 1030. The ship is new, clean and the service was just outstanding. We had a drink package so were wondering how this would work as so many have them these days. We have never splurged before so this was such a treat. Never waited more than 5 minutes at a bar. Plenty of servers walking around also. Everyone we encountered was friendly so not sure how I have seen complaints on this board honestly. Food in ocean view was good and plentiful. Very clean, never had trouble finding a table. The drinks in this bar tended to be consistently better than any other bar we tried also. Cozumel we rented a car and drove to a beach with facilities. Only had to buy a drink or so to use them. Very clean and beautiful- had a great day. Grand Caymen couldn't tender due to high seas which was a true bummer- love that island. Honeymooned there years ago Jamaica- ugg hate this port. Got off to walk around and headed straight back to the ship after being accosted a zillion times asking if we wanted a taxi. After the offer for "weed" we decided we had enough!! Coco Cay was great! So relaxing. Offers for drinks came frequently. Only complaint there was no designated smoking area. Hate sitting next to smokers. Can not understand that filthy habit-sorry... Felt a lot of motion on this ship but maybe the seas were rough. weather was beautiful the entire time. Went to every show. Entertainment was fair I would say. Enjoyed the singing group the one night and the comedian the last night. Singers and dancers were pretty bad. The "cirque" like show was pretty good. House band has gotten a bad review on cruise critic. They were ok I thought, I've seen worse. Cruise director Alexander was friendly and energetic- I liked him. I was spoiled with Graham Seymour on my first cruise and no one has measured up since then Main dining room- service was outstanding. Can not say enough about it. Food good to very good. Ate only there every night. Cabin was 9th deck balcony and BEAUTIFUL. Loved it. Plenty of room and storage for the four of us. Steward amazing Cafe Baccio- coffee was not as good as I thought it would be. By the last day I realized I needed an extra shot in the take away coffees. Loved the macchiato. Those people work so hard I really could not get over it. Same people all day every day. Treats there are free- no charge for anyone. Debarkation smoothest yet for us. We walked off at 715am and were at the airport by 8 and our gate by 830 with out any rushing whatsoever. We like to avoid the lines so always walk off but this time had a 1030 am flight. Was a great week. Happy to answer any questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmaanne7 Posted January 11, 2016 #2 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Thanks for your thoughts. Glad you had a great time. Was your drink package usable on Coco Cay? Also, were you able to find a spot away from the smokers? We are both terribly bothered by smoke as well. That is one of the main reasons that we love Celebrity. Did you snorkel there at all? Sent from my SM-G386W using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gopro63 Posted January 11, 2016 #3 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Happy to read reviews like this. some here just have nothing better to do but complain, and express wht they disliked,. What ever. Yes the coffee shop is so busy, so popular. I will complain that the ship has a electronic card room table where as the Silhouette needs updating big time glad you guys enjoyed your cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowlover Posted January 11, 2016 Author #4 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Thanks for your thoughts. Glad you had a great time. Was your drink package usable on Coco Cay? Also, were you able to find a spot away from the smokers? We are both terribly bothered by smoke as well. That is one of the main reasons that we love Celebrity. Did you snorkel there at all? Sent from my SM-G386W using Tapatalk Yes the drink package is usable on the island. You don't need any cash at all. You can use your seapass card for any purchase. The island has a lot of space. I most definitely could have moved to an area with fewer people which would decrease the smoker possibility ha! I just didn't bother. They also had record number of people leave the ship to go to the island that day- it was a younger crowd. I was never bothered by smoke on this trip except for a few times on the island, honestly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monicajay Posted January 11, 2016 #5 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Grand Caymen couldn't tender due to high seas which was a true bummer- love that island. Honeymooned there years ago Did you just stay parked off shore or did the ship putz along towards your next port of call. Always wonder when they miss this port so often why there is no plan 'B'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smith6 Posted January 11, 2016 #6 Share Posted January 11, 2016 What was the bands name on the Reflection and what kind of music is played around the pool is it a band or is it pre recorded. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmaanne7 Posted January 11, 2016 #7 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Thanks for your quick response Shadowlover. Really looking forward to experiencing Reflection for myself. ☺ Sent from my SM-G386W using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cafedumonde Posted January 12, 2016 #8 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Thanks for the great review. Did you have any experience with the kids club? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowlover Posted January 12, 2016 Author #9 Share Posted January 12, 2016 The band is LAX. I did not have any interaction with the kids club however I overheard a parent saying their kids did not want to leave to come to dinner with them! It is new and clean looking and I like that it is near to the spa, fitness and solarium. It's not stuck somewhere hard to get to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowlover Posted January 12, 2016 Author #10 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Did you just stay parked off shore or did the ship putz along towards your next port of call. Always wonder when they miss this port so often why there is no plan 'B'. The ship did pull up anchor and start slowly sailing. I wondered the same thing! I feel like I would have rather stayed anchored and had a view of the island at least:o The captain was really friendly and apologized. We all got our port fees back which was a nice surprise at the end. 17 dollars or so per person. The crew had to work extra hard as they did not expect a sea day and they were also very very accomodating even though I know they must have been mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovincruisin1321 Posted January 12, 2016 #11 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Is Celebrity not a non smoking? I've been on the other ships and don't recall dealing with smokers. Do they smoke everywhere? Had a very nice week on reflection. Flew in day before to Ft Lauderdale and stayed at Towne Place Suites in Weston. This was near SawGrass mills shopping and we had a ball shopping with our young adult children as we waited for our room to be ready. Chose the hotel as we stayed with points and it was the least amount of points I have ever needed! Hotel was nice and included breakfast. Ate at Sweet Tomatoes which we always try to do when in Florida- such a treat. Rented a car at the airport and dropped off the next day in Miami downtown. We rented from Enterprise- 61 dollars for a full size car for 24 hours and no drop fee. My hubby dropped us off at the port at 10 am and returned the car. As it is one mile from the port, in the downtown area he decided to have a little jog back which he enjoyed! We were on the ship by 1030. The ship is new, clean and the service was just outstanding. We had a drink package so were wondering how this would work as so many have them these days. We have never splurged before so this was such a treat. Never waited more than 5 minutes at a bar. Plenty of servers walking around also. Everyone we encountered was friendly so not sure how I have seen complaints on this board honestly. Food in ocean view was good and plentiful. Very clean, never had trouble finding a table. The drinks in this bar tended to be consistently better than any other bar we tried also. Cozumel we rented a car and drove to a beach with facilities. Only had to buy a drink or so to use them. Very clean and beautiful- had a great day. Grand Caymen couldn't tender due to high seas which was a true bummer- love that island. Honeymooned there years ago Jamaica- ugg hate this port. Got off to walk around and headed straight back to the ship after being accosted a zillion times asking if we wanted a taxi. After the offer for "weed" we decided we had enough!! Coco Cay was great! So relaxing. Offers for drinks came frequently. Only complaint there was no designated smoking area. Hate sitting next to smokers. Can not understand that filthy habit-sorry... Felt a lot of motion on this ship but maybe the seas were rough. weather was beautiful the entire time. Went to every show. Entertainment was fair I would say. Enjoyed the singing group the one night and the comedian the last night. Singers and dancers were pretty bad. The "cirque" like show was pretty good. House band has gotten a bad review on cruise critic. They were ok I thought, I've seen worse. Cruise director Alexander was friendly and energetic- I liked him. I was spoiled with Graham Seymour on my first cruise and no one has measured up since then Main dining room- service was outstanding. Can not say enough about it. Food good to very good. Ate only there every night. Cabin was 9th deck balcony and BEAUTIFUL. Loved it. Plenty of room and storage for the four of us. Steward amazing Cafe Baccio- coffee was not as good as I thought it would be. By the last day I realized I needed an extra shot in the take away coffees. Loved the macchiato. Those people work so hard I really could not get over it. Same people all day every day. Treats there are free- no charge for anyone. Debarkation smoothest yet for us. We walked off at 715am and were at the airport by 8 and our gate by 830 with out any rushing whatsoever. We like to avoid the lines so always walk off but this time had a 1030 am flight. Was a great week. Happy to answer any questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkjretired Posted January 12, 2016 #12 Share Posted January 12, 2016 (edited) Is Celebrity not a non smoking? I've been on the other ships and don't recall dealing with smokers. Do they smoke everywhere? The ship is almost all non smoking, only a few locations for smokers and they are all outside.. No indoor smoking allowed. You will not deal with smokers on the ship. The poster Is writing about the private island, perhaps something Celebrity might want to look into. Edited January 12, 2016 by dkjretired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenevenpar Posted January 12, 2016 #13 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I've been to Coco Cay dozens of times; never had a problem with smoke. Sorry that you did. I think the local vendors only take cash, unless that has changed recently. Love the Cocolocos :D Thanks for the review!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerseycandyman Posted January 12, 2016 #14 Share Posted January 12, 2016 by any chance do you know if they still have the new menu at bistro on 5. we will be on board in 2 weeks cant wait thanks for a great review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisaulbach Posted January 13, 2016 #15 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I was also on the 1/2-1/9 Reflection cruise and it was great. The Reflection is beautiful and spacious. I have previously been on the Summit and liked it very much but found the Reflection to be a notch or two better IMO. The food was excellent in Blu, main dining room, Ocean Cafe and room service. Having a drink pkg made the no daily in room water in Aqua class a non issue for me. Never found it inconvenient to pick up a bottle to have in the room. I didn't take in the shows but found the live music by the girl duo, Ear Candy, and the solo guitar player/singer, Jonny Mantra, to be excellent. They mostly play in the Ensemble Lounge on deck 5 in the evenings. I would echo the sentiments on the private island, Coco Cay. The facilities and services on the island are top notch. It has all the perks food and drink wise of the ship with a beautiful beach and water thrown in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgreenie28 Posted January 13, 2016 #16 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Wow! This was a great post. Thanks for letting us know. We leave on the 30th on this cruise. (Now I'm nervous about the rough seas, but in normally fine) was the rough seas unbearable? Did a lot of people get sick? Also, were there any themed nights like a white party, 70s party, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgreenie28 Posted January 13, 2016 #17 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Also, what is the best advice for doing things off ship? For example we want to go to the waterfall in Jamaica so do we just take a taxi or does the cruise provide transportation if we are not going on an excursion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtleeH Posted January 13, 2016 #18 Share Posted January 13, 2016 We'll wave as we disembark that day. We leave on on the 23rd. Wow! This was a great post. Thanks for letting us know. We leave on the 30th on this cruise. (Now I'm nervous about the rough seas, but in normally fine) was the rough seas unbearable? Did a lot of people get sick? Also, were there any themed nights like a white party, 70s party, etc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stipmom Posted January 13, 2016 #19 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Was on same Reflection sailing. Bistro on five still had the menu with the daily specials. We thought the entertainment was excellent . Was disappointed main dining room was only open between 12 and 1 on sea days. On previous cruises they were opened until 1:30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JobbesL Posted January 13, 2016 #20 Share Posted January 13, 2016 (edited) Wow! This was a great post. Thanks for letting us know. We leave on the 30th on this cruise. (Now I'm nervous about the rough seas, but in normally fine) was the rough seas unbearable? Did a lot of people get sick? Also, were there any themed nights like a white party, 70s party, etc? We'll be on the same ship. :) Edited January 13, 2016 by JobbesL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manmtnmike Posted January 13, 2016 #21 Share Posted January 13, 2016 What was the bands name on the Reflection and what kind of music is played around the pool is it a band or is it pre recorded. Thanks Hi again! I just got an update from Blind Vinyl. Lax is to be re assigned and their first cruise on Reflection is also Jan 23.... here's a quote from the text: "Our (Blind Vinyl) schedule actually changes every day, so we won't know where we're playing until the day before. But we usually play roughly 3 sets a day, with the majority of them being in the foyer, although sometimes we play by the pool or elsewhere throughout the ship." See you soon! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtleeH Posted January 13, 2016 #22 Share Posted January 13, 2016 What type of music does Lax play? Hi again! I just got an update from Blind Vinyl. Lax is to be re assigned and their first cruise on Reflection is also Jan 23.... here's a quote from the text: "Our (Blind Vinyl) schedule actually changes every day, so we won't know where we're playing until the day before. But we usually play roughly 3 sets a day, with the majority of them being in the foyer, although sometimes we play by the pool or elsewhere throughout the ship." See you soon! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doodlefan Posted January 13, 2016 #23 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Hi. I have an odd question. Did they have escargot in the main dining room on the everyday menu? The reason I ask is I was on the Summit the first week of December and there was no escargot at all ALL week. We were a little disappointed as we love to order that. Instead they have the mushrooms done the same way. Every day they told us "maybe tomorrow" lol apparently they didn't get their shipment at the beginning of the cruise. I'm hoping our cruise on the Reflection this Saturday has escargot everyday!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manmtnmike Posted January 13, 2016 #24 Share Posted January 13, 2016 What type of music does Lax play? Hi Atlee, As I understand the info I received, the band LAX will not be onboard for 1/23 sailing replaced by Blind Vinyl. They have a FB site from UK...See you soon! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillyj Posted January 13, 2016 #25 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Hi, if there were 4 of you how wete the beds arranged. Was it a sofa and a trundle or a bed from the ceiling. How (un)comfortable was the sofa? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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