Celebrity X reflection (1st time cruiser) requesting tips & advice.

[mcos864]

hello all, i have just signed up to cruisecritic as im looking at booking a cruise on celebrity reflection in june for 11 nights around the western med. Boarding @ civitavecchia.

This will be our first cruise experience after listening to various friends who do recommend it, but it has to be on a 5 star ship.

I am for 43 & my fiancee is 30 in july so thought we would celebrate in style.

We do like fine food & drink & do like nightclubs.... late nights etc..., but after reading a few reviews on here im getting mixed messages if this is actually the ship we want to be on. So im asking all you experienced Celebrity X Cruisers for an honest review on these cruise lines about how good the food really is, drinks selection at the various bars & the nightlife etc...

Also any personal tips you may have e.g. food packages/ drinks packages/room upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

I was going to book a balcony room & standard drinks package but is worth paying the extra for the concierge room & premium drinks package? im not a spirit drinker, but i do love my champagne, but i guess this would have a seperate charge on the ship or is this included with the premium package?

Also is it cheaper to book a shore excursion in advance or book it ONBOARD? What are the various costs for excursions?

Also what are the dress codes for breakfast..... As we are sunseekers & will want to go straight to the sunloungers afterwards......dont want to offend anyone & want to get the correct dresscodes & etiquette beforehand from you more experienced Celebrity X Cruisers.

And most importantly onboard TIPS!!! Are you billed a standard dailycharge PP or do you tip at your discression?

Very kindest regards & thank you

mark.

[snowyboy]

hello all, i have just signed up to cruisecritic as im looking at booking a cruise on celebrity reflection in june for 11 nights around the western med. Boarding @ civitavecchia.

This will be our first cruise experience after listening to various friends who do recommend it, but it has to be on a 5 star ship.

I am for 43 & my fiancee is 30 in july so thought we would celebrate in style.

We do like fine food & drink & do like nightclubs.... late nights etc..., but after reading a few reviews on here im getting mixed messages if this is actually the ship we want to be on. So im asking all you experienced Celebrity X Cruisers for an honest review on these cruise lines about how good the food really is, drinks selection at the various bars & the nightlife etc...

Also any personal tips you may have e.g. food packages/ drinks packages/room upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

I was going to book a balcony room & standard drinks package but is worth paying the extra for the concierge room & premium drinks package? im not a spirit drinker, but i do love my champagne, but i guess this would have a seperate charge on the ship or is this included with the premium package?

Also is it cheaper to book a shore excursion in advance or book it ONBOARD? What are the various costs for excursions?

Also what are the dress codes for breakfast..... As we are sunseekers & will want to go straight to the sunloungers afterwards......dont want to offend anyone & want to get the correct dresscodes & etiquette beforehand from you more experienced Celebrity X Cruisers.

And most importantly onboard TIPS!!! Are you billed a standard dailycharge PP or do you tip at your discression?

Very kindest regards & thank you

mark.

 

I assume you are talking about June 2016 if so Celebrity have offer on buy one one half price and Classic Drinks package ends 29.02.16.

 

You have picked a great ship Reflection is S Class Ship the best IMHO. Food well that's a matter of taste, for us it is great MDR and Buffet the speciality restaurants are also very good.

 

I would say night life revolves around eating and watching show with drinks after maybe a dance but it's not a late night ship. With all the ports you are visiting you be glad to get to bed. (So you you want late night party this is not the line for you).

 

If I was you and this is my opinion I would book a Balcony Room Deck 6 has Life boats so vision just below Balcony Decks 7 - 9 great if you can get a cabin on the Hump (Bit that sticks out) great. Just looked if its 27.6.16 cruise try for 2A midship 7266 looks good.

 

Drinks package I would stick with the Classic offered till you get on board you can then upgrade if you want to. Loads of info on drinks packages on CC.

 

You can pay your tips up front saves a lot a messing around. works out at £91.90 each.

 

Dress code on Celebrity is very relaxed now Evening smart casual as for breakfast wear what you would if you were staying in Hotel shorts OK.

 

Mark you pays your money and takes your pick read read and more reading and you will reach a conclusion.

 

Trips out when you booked join the roll call for your ship there will probably be some private tours arranged lot cheaper than ship one's.

[russg140]

hello all, i have just signed up to cruisecritic as im looking at booking a cruise on celebrity reflection in june for 11 nights around the western med. Boarding @ civitavecchia.

This will be our first cruise experience after listening to various friends who do recommend it, but it has to be on a 5 star ship.

I am for 43 & my fiancee is 30 in july so thought we would celebrate in style.

We do like fine food & drink & do like nightclubs.... late nights etc..., but after reading a few reviews on here im getting mixed messages if this is actually the ship we want to be on. So im asking all you experienced Celebrity X Cruisers for an honest review on these cruise lines about how good the food really is, drinks selection at the various bars & the nightlife etc...

Also any personal tips you may have e.g. food packages/ drinks packages/room upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

I was going to book a balcony room & standard drinks package but is worth paying the extra for the concierge room & premium drinks package? im not a spirit drinker, but i do love my champagne, but i guess this would have a seperate charge on the ship or is this included with the premium package?

Also is it cheaper to book a shore excursion in advance or book it ONBOARD? What are the various costs for excursions?

Also what are the dress codes for breakfast..... As we are sunseekers & will want to go straight to the sunloungers afterwards......dont want to offend anyone & want to get the correct dresscodes & etiquette beforehand from you more experienced Celebrity X Cruisers.

And most importantly onboard TIPS!!! Are you billed a standard dailycharge PP or do you tip at your discression?

Very kindest regards & thank you

mark.

 

So, age wise you will be on the younger side as Celebrity tends to attract an older clientele. While Reflection has night life scheduled my experience has been that it is not well attended, but that varies from cruise to cruise. RCCL, Carnival and NCL tend to attract younger guests and offer more in the way of activities and night life. Keep in mind that those lines also attract more families, meaning more kids.

 

The bars provide a wide variety of drinks. Champagne can be purchased by the bottle, but at the bar you will be provided a sparking wine not a "real champagne". Being that bubbly is you preferred beverage I would say to NOT purchase the beverage package.

 

Shore excursions is a source of revenue for every cruise line. You end up paying top dollar if you book through Celebrity, but they justify it as giving you the piece of mind, etc. As was previously mentioned you can check the roll call for your cruise and find out about tours, etc. that your fellow travelers have set up, which will usually save you money. Make sure to read the excursion description carefully and make sure the tour is going and doing what you want. "Visit" means get off the bus. "See" usually means pass by.

 

You can go to breakfast in your shorts/trunks with a shirt and shoes.

 

Tips are automatically charged to your on board account. If you want you can "opt out" of that program by going to the Guest Relations desk and telling them you would like to opt out. They will have you sign a form and then tip are at your discretion. If you stay with the automatic gratuities you can still tip above that to individual staff members.

 

Let me know if this helps and if you have any more questions.

[kitty9]

Celebrity isn't known as a late night cruise line, especially on Med cruises. Most passengers will enjoy dinner and a show and then retire to their cabin to get ready for the next day's port. Food is good on Celebrity and entertainment is just OK, imho. Celebrity also attracts an older passenger, and late night partying isn't really a big thing on that line, even in the Caribbean. If you want lots of late night activities, I suggest Royal Caribbean or NCL.

[existentialtraveler]

hello all, i have just signed up to cruisecritic as im looking at booking a cruise on celebrity reflection in june for 11 nights around the western med. Boarding @ civitavecchia.

This will be our first cruise experience after listening to various friends who do recommend it, but it has to be on a 5 star ship.

I am for 43 & my fiancee is 30 in july so thought we would celebrate in style.

We do like fine food & drink & do like nightclubs.... late nights etc..., but after reading a few reviews on here im getting mixed messages if this is actually the ship we want to be on. So im asking all you experienced Celebrity X Cruisers for an honest review on these cruise lines about how good the food really is, drinks selection at the various bars & the nightlife etc...

Also any personal tips you may have e.g. food packages/ drinks packages/room upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

I was going to book a balcony room & standard drinks package but is worth paying the extra for the concierge room & premium drinks package? im not a spirit drinker, but i do love my champagne, but i guess this would have a seperate charge on the ship or is this included with the premium package?

Also is it cheaper to book a shore excursion in advance or book it ONBOARD? What are the various costs for excursions?

Also what are the dress codes for breakfast..... As we are sunseekers & will want to go straight to the sunloungers afterwards......dont want to offend anyone & want to get the correct dresscodes & etiquette beforehand from you more experienced Celebrity X Cruisers.

And most importantly onboard TIPS!!! Are you billed a standard dailycharge PP or do you tip at your discression?

Very kindest regards & thank you

mark.

 

you may want to take a look at my youtube video of my recent cruise on the Reflection

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

A Med cruise is usually pretty port intensive. If you do full-day tours in port, I doubt you will be interested in late-night partying. You sound as if you would be better suited to a Caribbean cruise.

 

[irishgal1970]

I have a review here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2313231&highlight=reflection

 

Photos of the stateroom (2C) here:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMvpmDQcv2KFSXbgvkIRqFRIakqqCOSxGThsHqVCbcIgOVCNjmJ1qCHDCGZqAh2eg?key=eHNGSW5ZZGdaeXdJaGJtYUtXY2huNFM0MEdqMTB3

 

The dailies here:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B419SU5y7sC0SEMtZ012N0J5cHM

 

I agree with previous posters who commented on the nightlife. If you're looking to dance the night away every night, or even most nights, then Celebrity is not for you.

[Pavovsky]

A Med cruise is usually pretty port intensive. If you do full-day tours in port, I doubt you will be interested in late-night partying. You sound as if you would be better suited to a Caribbean cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

I recall (vaguely) a few late nights with dancing in reflection last august. Great party on the lawn too. Ok 4am dancing won't happen but 2am dos. One of the pluses of the cruise was the range of different activities.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[darbs7]

I am 45 and my husband is 49 this will be our third February in a row cruising on Celebrity (second year in a row on the Reflection...we leave Saturday).

 

We alway get the drink package as part of our cruise and then we upgrade to premium. We love martinis and wine and craft beer so having the premium just feels more relaxing (it is about $80 for week upgrade per person).

 

Every night on the cruise there was dancing until midnight or later. It started early in main area, then in martini bar and then other places (it moves). It gets quite wild and crowded. Not sure about your cruise as I think the Caribbean in February brings people out of cabin fever.

 

We always buy a dining package also. We love the cooked to order meals of the specialty restaurants and the more personalized service and private seating. We buy the 5 dinner package (2 Tuscan, 1 Qsine, 1 Lawn Club, 1 Murano...can't name our favorite love them all).

 

 

We are well traveled (we just returned from Vegas a month ago, we head to Nashville next month, Vegas again in April, Paris/Barcelona for 3 weeks this summer). In between we hit up Foxwoods or other driving range destinations.

 

No regrets and have a ball.

 

BTW: Rooms (1st year we did Aqua, last year regular balcony, and this year Concierge balcony)....we picked them based on the best offers available (this year we got tips, drinks, $300 onboard credit for CB when we book in Nov 2014 for $1150 each).

[barneymag]

hello all, i have just signed up to cruisecritic as im looking at booking a cruise on celebrity reflection in june for 11 nights around the western med. Boarding @ civitavecchia.

This will be our first cruise experience after listening to various friends who do recommend it, but it has to be on a 5 star ship.

I am for 43 & my fiancee is 30 in july so thought we would celebrate in style.

We do like fine food & drink & do like nightclubs.... late nights etc..., but after reading a few reviews on here im getting mixed messages if this is actually the ship we want to be on. So im asking all you experienced Celebrity X Cruisers for an honest review on these cruise lines about how good the food really is, drinks selection at the various bars & the nightlife etc...

Also any personal tips you may have e.g. food packages/ drinks packages/room upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

I was going to book a balcony room & standard drinks package but is worth paying the extra for the concierge room & premium drinks package? im not a spirit drinker, but i do love my champagne, but i guess this would have a seperate charge on the ship or is this included with the premium package?

Also is it cheaper to book a shore excursion in advance or book it ONBOARD? What are the various costs for excursions?

Also what are the dress codes for breakfast..... As we are sunseekers & will want to go straight to the sunloungers afterwards......dont want to offend anyone & want to get the correct dresscodes & etiquette beforehand from you more experienced Celebrity X Cruisers.

And most importantly onboard TIPS!!! Are you billed a standard dailycharge PP or do you tip at your discression?

Very kindest regards & thank you

mark.

 

Hi Mark

 

Glad you reposted this on your own thread rather than in the middle of the "war zone" under 30's thread :):)

 

As you already know the UK offer currently includes the classic drinks package which cover a lot of drinks options. We never upgrade until on the ship (no advantage doing it earlier anyway) but we find the premium package is worth it for us as includes virtually every brand of spirits and beer you could find on the ship and allows a $13 spend on wine. No true champagne included at that level but some decent Prosecco (actually covered by classic) and the house "champagne" covered by premium called domaine du Chandon (it's actually a Napa sparkling wine but produced by a true French champagne house) and it's pretty good. My wife prefers champagne or Prosecco over spirits and really likes celebrity's offerings. I personally go premium as I enjoy the martini bar and prefer decent vodka or gin brands such as grey goose, belvedere, Hendricks and Tanquery 10 etc all available with premium. Also if you want a drink at a higher price than $13 with premium you pay the difference but with classic you have to pay for the full price.

 

Drink selection generally I find really good on X and we have cruised Royal, P&O and X but X is our line going forward and imo gives the best service, food and drinks selection out of the three I mention.

 

Regarding cabins we choose Concierge (as long as the difference isn't too large) as we get extra captains club loyalty points compared to balcony and as X will be our line going forward will get us to the perks with Elite quicker. We also enjoy room service breakfast on our balcony whenever possible and concierge gives you a larger breakfast selection. I also prefer a higher deck which concierge gives.

 

Food - we generally find the MDR on X good enough for us and again the best MDR food by a long way out of the three lines we have cruised with. We will usually book two or three nights in a speciality restaurant ..... Murano and QSine for us.

 

We have never been on Reflection but cruised on Eclipse (sister S class) and loved her. There are differences with the S class ships and Eclipse has a night club (Quasar) .... don't think Reflection has a club. Eclipse's club had people in every night later on after all the other entertainment started closing down.

 

Personally we sail on Eclipse as I like the convenience of not having to fly but if itinerary suits then I would also fly.

 

We found the age group to be dominated by a 30 to 50 crowd (over 50% but that could be down to time of year etc) on our cruises with smaller groups at both ends outside of this. Very few kids (but we sail outside of school holidays) which suits us now our kids are at Uni and we can go on grown up holidays again :)

 

Regarding tips we always prepay the gratuities (sometimes included in the price, especially if you use a specialist cruise travel agent;)) but will always tip some extra to our steward and regular waiters/bar staff if they've provided good service ..... I never would consider not prepaying the recommended daily gratuities as the staff work really hard and 99% of them are exceptional and get paid a pittance as there basic salary.

 

Personally I would go for it and I'm sure X won't disappoint ..... 5 years ago I would have said cruising is for old folk, not for us ...... Now we are hooked and have had three cruises in the last 18months and another to look forward to in 4 months ....... although we still enjoy land holidays we will always have at least one cruise per year from now on ...... Love it !!

Edited February 11, 2016 by barneymag

[Eve]

Congrats on booking a Med cruise. I understand your concerns and just wanted to offer a little insight. We took a 10 night Med cruise a few years ago. It was fabulous! We did multiple shore excursions to see the sights and tried not to miss anything.

 

What we found was that it is HOT in the Med in the summer. Sometimes really, really hot! (Tip: bring an umbrella--not for the rain but to protect yourself from the blazing sun). This translated into being utterly exhausted by the time we returned to the ship after a day of sightseeing. All we really wanted to do was shower, hit the pool and grab a bite to eat. We THOUGHT we wanted to drink and party till the wee hours, but the port-intensive itinerary coupled with the heat and the walking drained us. And we are active people! So overall I found it comforting to have a beautiful ship to return to with first-class service to rely on after a long day.

 

Have a wonderful time. And I'd highly recommend a drink package of some sort. We found ourselves drinking much more water than usual and it was nice to have a cocktail once we got back on board.

[Eve]

Marc...when we did our Med cruise, we relied on our Roll Call to meet new friends with similar interests. We were able to hook up with a group of people and organized our own private tours with a private driver. That made for a pleasant experience. It was 8 of us and driver vs. 50 of us on a bus. We picked where we wanted to go, what we wanted to do and had a local showing us the way. Just something to think about if you'd be comfortable giving it a try.

[Ksqrd]

In regards to the drink package, we have had both the regular drink package and the premium. I too am a champagne drinker and I also like prosecco. On the classic beverage package they have prosecco and on the premium the champagne was Chandon. If you don't like prosecco then the premium package my be the way to go for you.

[mcos864]

Hello all. I Just wanted to say a big thank you to those of you that have taken the time to offer your experiences & tips on the celebrity X cruises.

Im still deliberating quite a lot between a luxury beach holiday or celebrity X cruise...but the more I read the more I think I should book the cruise as it sounds its in a league of its own!!. I Did look on cruise compete site for the excursions on this trip & they do look great at very good prices too! Is this the way to book them or should I do it through the roll call??

Also there is the issue of sunbeds...as I said earlier we are sunseekers & would be disappointed if were constantly subjected to not being able to find sunbeds everyday, is this an issue or is it easy to get a sunbed

Thank you again

Mark.

Last edited by mcos864; February 15th, 2016 at 06:30 AM.

[vickykay]

We did this same cruise last May. It truly was a trip of a lifetime! For this cruise ( maybe because it was the Med) there was a vast variety of age ranges, many younger couples, in fact several on their honeymoon. It is quote port intensive as others have said. I would recommend a few days in Rome pre cruise if time allows. Also, join your roll call and try and do excursions with others as you will see more at a much less cost. Each port has several with good reputations and often used ( check port of calls board). We loved the Reflection.

[wallie5446]

..as I said earlier we are sunseekers & would be disappointed if were constantly subjected to not being able to find sunbeds everyday, is this an issue or is it easy to get a sunbed

AM.

 

As others have said, Med sailings are port intensive and the pool area is normally a ghost town when the ship is docked. There should be no issue finding a spot by the pool.

[mcos864]

As others have said, Med sailings are port intensive and the pool area is normally a ghost town when the ship is docked. There should be no issue finding a spot by the pool.

 

Cheers wallie. I see what you mean......I had a chuckle at the photo!

Thanks.

[Blondie008]

We went back to Celebrity last October for the TA on Equinox - we were attracted back by the social media "modern luxury" "MiamiDJVibe" - etc etc

Our cruise was urm - not quite what we hoped for - Quasar was closed and although here was night life - it was a 13 night cruise and one can only take enough FABBAABBA and 80s rewinds in one week....

The Miami Dj was there around the Martini Bar and lobby, as were a great band - Take Five I think they were called, played a lot of Calvin Harris style - upbeat and modern - there just wasn't enough of it,

We are returning to Celebrity in May - and we are mega excited - but its all about the ports for us this time - its Alaska - so we wont be going partying.

The med we can do often as we like - and hey - have even done the med once and never once stepped foot off the ship.

But for buzz and vibe - we booked back on NCL for our two weeks this October - Norwegian is sure, more relaxed - but theres always the Haven if you want 5 star - and the dining packages are amazing value - speciality restaurants are great - EPIC is still at the moment my favourite ship - but we are trying a different ship this October - its def got the nighttime buzz not the zzzzzzzzzzz...

Celebrity - yes of course - is more refined -

We loved Aqua Class because of BLU - loved having our own table for two every night - and food is prepared fresh - breakfast there is awesome. We have booked Aqua again for our Alaska cruise. As for drinks packages - we have all 1-2-3 offers for our upcoming Alaska cruise - only paid £113.00 total for both of us to upgrade to premium. If you like the nice Martinis and special drinks from the world class bar - paid the pennies and upgrade to Premium.

I forget what offers we have in the UK just now on Celebrity - worth finding out when the 1-2-3 is on again for us.

Try Thomas Cook for some discount - also there are some agents in Scotland (not sure who in England) who have chartered BA aircraft for weekends and are doing inclusive air and cruise direct - stewart travel is one - Barrhead Travel another - there will be English companies doing similar. I know there was an amazing direct service going from either London City or Standsted? The flight was awesome - bags on straight to ship! Worth doing your homework on!

HOWEVER - IF I (JMHO!) was 30 - doing the Med - I would take NCL Epic back to back - repeat the 7 night cruise twice - I would stay in their Spa Mini Suite (Epics spa knocks the socks off of celebritys!) - do some ports first week - then turnaround - do the others the following week - same cruise but mixture of sunning days and port days -

There you go - from the voice of an "older than you lively party animal" who likes the finer things in life but - hasn't hung up her Jimmy Choo clubbing shoes' just yet!

PS sorry about the typos too many to correct! You get what I mean!

Edited February 17, 2016 by Blondie008

[drarill]

Hello all. I Just wanted to say a big thank you to those of you that have taken the time to offer your experiences & tips on the celebrity X cruises.

Im still deliberating quite a lot between a luxury beach holiday or celebrity X cruise...but the more I read the more I think I should book the cruise as it sounds its in a league of its own!!. I Did look on cruise compete site for the excursions on this trip & they do look great at very good prices too! Is this the way to book them or should I do it through the roll call??

Also there is the issue of sunbeds...as I said earlier we are sunseekers & would be disappointed if were constantly subjected to not being able to find sunbeds everyday, is this an issue or is it easy to get a sunbed

Thank you again

Mark.

Last edited by mcos864; February 15th, 2016 at 06:30 AM.

My $0.02... are you planning to cruise in the beginning of June or at the end? Believe it or not the demographics will be really different. The first time we cruised the Med with Celebrity we booked a cruise in the beginning of June and we didn't find many families. At the end of the month or July there will be plenty of families and a younger crowd. We cruised on the Reflection two years ago in the middle of July and had a great time.

BTW, check the suite prices. Right now Sky suites are a great deal and everything is included. Premium beverage package, unlimited internet, gratuities and OBC. Plus, a butler, access to Michaels Club, Luminae and Blu. :) happy cruising!