Reflections on Reflection February 6th-13th

[leisuretraveler223]

General summary and observations after a week on Reflection

 

Traveled with girlfriend and two other couples. The first time we’ve traveled together, so you never know what to expect, but we all had a blast, and are already looking forward to another trip together soon!

 

Sailed February 6th on Reflection out of Miami with ports of call in San Juan, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.

[leisuretraveler223]

Before the cruise.

 

Miami is probably my favorite port of departure. It’s a fun city with great hotels and restaurants. And the sail away past the islands and the beach is awesome. I know some here like Ft. Lauderdale because it’s “easy”. But, I find it utterly dreadful! Ft. Lauderdale strikes me as a soulless generic reproduction of every suburban town in America, but it happens to be by the water.

 

Flew in the day before, and stayed at The Conrad on Brickell. Had a great two-bedroom unit for two of the couples with a great view of the water on the 31st floor. A marked improvement from the morning departure from Boston in the snow!

 

Great dinner at Smith & Wollensky at South Point Park watching other ships head out.

[leisuretraveler223]

Boarding: Arrived at the terminal around 11:15. Dropped bags and headed in. Curb to ship was maybe ten minutes. Very fast & easy! Staterooms opened around 1:15 I think. Luggage arrives around 5:00.

 

The Ship: First time on Reflection. Was on Solstice and Silhouette several years back. These are to me, the most beautiful ships I have seen. Nicely appointed, not gaudy, and very well maintained.

 

The Stateroom: We were in a standard balcony stateroom on the eighth deck forward (bed by slider). It was fine. My recent cruises have all been in suites, but seeing as the other couples were doing standard rooms, I figured we’d do the same. It was a bit tight, but served its purpose. Like the rest of the ship, it was in great shape with very little to no signs of wear.

[leisuretraveler223]

The Food:

 

We did not go to the MDR. Two nights each in Murano and Tuscan Grill. One at Lawn Club Grill, and one at Qsine. We ate off the ship in San Juan. If you’re looking for a suggestion there, take a ten minute cab ride to Oceano. Open air, right on the beach. Fantastic food, and a nice spot. If you’re going, make a reservation. We did and it was packed full on a Monday night.

 

Overall, the food actually exceeded my expectations.

 

Breakfast in the Ocean View left me wanting for nothing. Made to order eggs, fresh breads, all variety of potatoes and breakfast meats. This was a winner.

 

Did lunch in the Ocean View one day. Meh… It was good, but not great. Walked through the other days and it pretty much looked the same. Truth be told, for the most parts, we were sun sluts, and didn’t want to leave the pool deck. So, guilty indulgence…. Three days, lunch was a cheeseburger from the Mast Grill. Yum!

 

I did make it to Bistro on Five one day for a bite when I finally needed to get out of the sun. I think this might be one of the most underrated venues on the ship. Totally worth the cost!

 

Murano. The best food and best service on the ship. They were super attentive and the food was excellent. We dined here our first night, and again out last.

 

Tuscan Grill. Also very good food and service. No complaints whatsoever.

 

The Lawn Club Grill. Probably the best steak I had all week. But the service is DREADFUL. I get that bar service is a bit slower since there isn’t a bar right there. So I was fine with the lag when I ordered my martini. But my dining companions were drinking wine, and the bottle was in an ice bucket nearby, but getting the wait staff to actually get it and refill anyone was a tall order. There was no follow-up after serving to see how things were or if we needed anything. A beautiful setting with good food, but the service was a major detraction. And no, no one in our group made their own flatbread or grilled their own steak. I can do that at home. No need to pay for the experience of doing it elsewhere.

 

Qsine. My second try here and I’m still undecided. I like the idea, not crazy about the execution. The room is fun and comfortable, and the staff is attentive. But the meal takes longer than it needs to. After ordering, you wait… and wait and wait… The food comes in no particular order, so there is no tempo to the meal. While I like the concept of food from around the world, it’s a bit schizophrenic in it’s final presentation. I think I would prefer they focus on one region and improve the overall execution. Going from sliders to spring rolls to lamb & hummus to Chinese stir-fry is just a bit odd. And the iPad menu has got to go. That was a bad idea when iPads first came out. It’s still a bad idea, but now one that is also dated.

Other food observations: The gelato on deck five is worth the price. But the flavors are unpredictable. Every time I went by they had different options. So if you don’t see what you’re after, check again. They put out a nice spread for the Superbowl in the back of the theater. It’s amazing to watch people go nuts for “sushi” (if you can call it that) from the Ocean View Café…

 

Off the ship, like I mentioned, Oceano in San Juan was great. We grabbed a quick lunch from the snack bar at Magens Bay. Basic sustenance, cold beer! Spent the day at Orient Bay and had lunch at one of the ocean front venues. Excellent French food!

[leisuretraveler223]

Drinks:

 

We all had the premium package and felt we got our money’s worth and enjoyed it. One of the nice things about it is the unlimited Evian in large bottles. Made it easy to stay hydrated. Bar service for the most part was very good. I do not believe the occasional assertions that the packages have led to less hustle. I just never saw it. What I did see was occasional understaffing. The pool bars in particular could use another person at busy times. But overall no complaints.

 

I do lament Celebrity’s and really RCCI’s obsession with Island Oasis. Seriously, do they own stock in that operation or what? I find the mixes to be dull and overly sweet. I would have killed for a real pina colada (thankfully got several one to die for on Orient Beach).

 

Beverage service was great in all the dining venues (save what I mentioned about Lawn Club Grill). They were quick to refill the wine and speedy with an additional cocktail when requested.

 

The martini bar is always crowded. The frustrating part is there are a number of seats in the lounge area around it and the entire counter at Crush right next to it. But the service at those spots was wildly inconsistent. One evening, we sat in the corner and had great service. The next evening, while I waited on my companions, I sat at Crush, at the closest seat to the main bar. I was the only one there. Card out, menu in hand…. Twenty minutes and the waiter never even acknowledged me. At one point he walked past me to get something from one of the cabinets under the bottles on ice, and still nothing. Just kind of weird.

 

Passport bar on deck three on the other hand always had great service. As did the casino bar.

 

World Class Bar…. Sigh! I remember the molecular bar on Solstice and Silhouette. What a pale reflection of what once was! To be fair, I started off with a bad taste in my mouth and it wasn’t the fault of the bartenders. We made plans to meet at World Class Bar at 5:30 one evening. I checked the daily program, which indicated it opened at 5:00. I arrived about 5:25 to find a half full bar and one bartender. I grabbed a seat off to one side, at which point the bartender told me they weren’t open and that it was a private mixology class that was going to last another ten minutes or so. Okay, but how about putting correct information in the daily schedule? Texted my friends and said we’d back it up to 5:45. We return at 5:45 and the bartender tells us he’s not opening until 6:00 or so. Lesson: don’t completely trust the daily schedule. I looked closely, and the schedule of events did list the mixology class from 4:00 to 5:30 on each of the last two sea days. But the list of bar hours kept saying World Class Bar opens at 5:00.

 

As for the bar itself: I remember the molecular bar. I remember the really fun menu and the myriad of fresh ingredients. This is now all flash and no substance. There are about a dozen drinks. Want the Mystic Ketel One? “Sorry, we don’t have the liquid nitrogen”. Want the Bulleit Infusion? “Sorry, that’s only for two people” Fine, there are six of us. “Sorry, it takes a half hour to make the infusion”. Want the Ciroc Tropically Yours? “Sorry, we don’t have the egg white”. You get the picture. Those drinks that they do make bear little to no resemblance to the pictures. The careful crafting of the concoctions at Molecular Bar has essentially been replaced with ho-hum drinks that sound a lot more unique than they end up being. And the enthusiastic, engaging mixologists have been replaced by somewhat cantankerous barmen who don’t seem to thrilled about what they’re doing. Plus, they still spend at least half their time explaining to people that they only serve a limited menu. People constantly waiting five minutes only to be told they don’t have daiquiris or Corona.

 

Cellar Masters. This is a great venue, but I suspect it has kind of lost its way due to the beverage packages. We had several people who really enjoy wine in our group. And normally, we wouldn’t hesitate to go out to dinner and order a nice bottle of wine. So the idea of the fine wines by the glass should appeal. But at the same time, with the premium package, we all found some “decent enough” wines by the glass that were included, that we never felt compelled to pay for the premium stuff. I suspect this is also hurt by the somewhat ongoing consumption that goes with cruising. Have a bloody Mary late morning… a beer with lunch… maybe a rum drink of some sort in the afternoon… people don’t feel the need to go for the premium wine in the evening after all that. The staff in there was very nice, and it was a relaxing place to sit and visit. But I never saw more than one other group in there during our three visits.

Ensemble Bar (outside Murano). I think this is a fantastic space. A beautiful bar, nice seating areas, and usually featuring great live music. This place should be a home run. But… OMG could it be darker in there? I mean it was really comical. I get a dark lounge, but this place is ridiculous. On the nights we headed to Tuscan Grill or Qsine, we joked about having to make it through the darkness, quipping we should link arms and head for the light. Just one notch up on the dimmer would do this place a world of good.

 

Sunset Bar. I love the redesign of this venue on Reflection over its predecessors. It is vulnerable to the wind, more so on the side seating areas than the bar itself. But it’s a beautiful setting for sail away or sunset. The recessed seating areas on either side are a great gathering spot for a group our size and we really enjoyed it.

[leisuretraveler223]

Entertainment. The live music in various venues (Ensemble lounge, atrium, poolside) was excellent. We popped in to a couple of the production shows, but never saw anything that interested us enough to stick around. Just wasn’t our scene, so can’t really comment beyond that.

 

Nightlife. The wandering club venue is a neat concept. One night at the martini bar, on night in cellar masters, one nigh poolside. It seemed to be well attended the night it was at the martini bar. We did not encounter it the other evenings, but I spoke with a number of people who said good things about it.

[leisuretraveler223]

The Ports.

 

San Juan. They kind of pulled a bait and switch. We were scheduled to be there from 3:30 to 11:00. They announced mid-morning that we were ahead of schedule and would arrive at 2:30. And they seemed quite proud of this. What they didn’t mention is that ship time wasn’t changing (San Juan is an hour ahead of Miami). So 2:30 ship time really IS 3:30 San Juan time. Then we noted that in the daily paper that “all aboard” was at 9:30 with departure at 10:00. We didn’t arrive early at all, we just stayed on ships time!

 

Getting is to San Juan at 3:30 local time is kind of funny. It’s the tail end of the day. So, having walked through Old San Juan plenty of times, we elected to relax and just make it to our dinner reservation at 6:45 (5:45 ship time!), and enjoy the evening.

 

St. Thomas. Came in to Havensight, which I find much prettier than Crown Bay. Grabbed a taxi downtown and grabbed a couple of rum drinks. The women thought they were going to do some shopping. We walked through a couple stores and remembered that shopping in the islands isn’t what it once was! Questionable quality makes it hard to feel confident about what you’re paying. Pushy sales people (“special sale just today!”) and crowded shops made us think we could better use our time. So we jumped in a taxi to Magens Bay. Still one of my favorite spots anywhere. Quite busy when we arrived around 11:00. But evidently a large number of people actually pay the cruise line’s inflated price for a cab ride to and from (can’t figure this one out), and they all cleared out around 1:00. Pro tip: If you are going to Magen’s Bay, there is absolutely NO REASON to book it through the ship. Walk off, get in an open air taxi and go. At most it will be $10 each way, plus $5 per person to enter the park. $25 and you can come and go on your own schedule. There is no additional benefit to forking over $40-50 for the cruise line to “facilitate” this.

 

St. Maarten. I have a personal rule: When I arrive in Philipsburg, I have one objective: Get the HECK out of Philipsburg! Seriously, to me this port is one of the ugliest and unappealing destinations in the islands. People rave about the shopping, but the homogenization of the islands has completely diluted this. All the shops are pretty much the same from island to island. And to me, Dutch St. Maarten is such a poor counterpart to the French side, I just can’t wait to get out of there. Thankfully, the port has rental cars. So we grabbed a van and headed to Orient Bay. Drove in and parked for free about ten steps from the beach. We walked out onto the beach and rented six chairs for the day for $10 each. The attendants were awesome. Set us up with six chairs waterfront, three umbrellas and a long wooden table for our things. They were constantly around with drink service and offered a full menu from the restaurant right behind us. They ran a tab and were quick and easy to settle it at the end of the day. Twenty minute ride over the hills and we were back to the port in no time.

[leisuretraveler223]

Debarkation. We had a 12:30 flight out of Miami, so we used the luggage valet service. OMG! This is the greatest thing in the history of cruising! Not having to grab those bags and deal with them is such a treat. We met at the Passport bar at 8:15 and walked up to deck 5 to debark. From being “bonged” off the ship to clear customs was less than ten minutes. Super Easy!

[leisuretraveler223]

General observations:

 

 

Overall: Awesome. Totally met or exceeded overall expectations and would do it again in a hearbeat!

 

The Good:

The ship is absolutely beautiful.

Plenty of deck chairs available.

The food exceeded expectations.

Drink package was totally worth it.

Service was mostly excellent.

Live music was great.

Internet was fast (although it was down for about three hours on the morning of our last full day.

 

Swing & a Miss:

The Lawn Club. I love the grass, but this area has always kind of had an identity crisis. I loved the idea of the cabanas, but was disappointed when I finally saw them. Too small, basically limited seating for three. I would have happily forked over some money for a more substantial place for the six of us to call our own. I’m note really sure who they are targeting with the current set up.

 

Sky Observation Lounge. I’m not sure why these venues struggle. Much like the Viking Crown Lounge on RCI, which are generally being repurposed, the Sky Lounge seems to be largely ignored. It’s one of my favorite places to sit with friends and enjoy a drink. But Celebrity has essentially given up on it. Most evenings, I believe it was the site of the Elite event (yawn… no thanks!). Then, it didn’t open to the rest of the passengers until after 8 o’clock.

 

Lunch in The Ocean View leaves a lot to be desired.

 

The spotty service around the martini bar can be frustrating.

 

 

The Bad:

 

Lawn Club Grill needs to get their act together with regards to service.

 

World Class Bar needs some serious help.

 

Celebrity needs to pay a little more attention to the inconstancies in their daily program.

 

The Ugly:

 

One thing…. Just one thing… I accept that they are going to litter my cabin and door with crap about “great opportunities” for art, jewelry, etc… And I get they are going to inundate my “inbox” through the interactive television with even more of that junk (I never even read it). But at least those things are easy to ignore. But leaving me MESSAGES on my phone, so that stupid orange light blinks is just obnoxious. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were like every other hotel where you push a button, hear the start of the message and then hit a button to delete it. But evidently this is too complicated for Celebrity. So, instead, you push the “Message” button on your phone, and it rings…and rings.. and rings… Usually after six to ten rings, it is automatically answered. You then wait on hold for a real live person to ask how they can help (remember, this started with pushing a button labeled “Messages”, it’s a safe bet I’m not trying to order room service). So I tell said individual I am trying to clear a message, and what does he do? Yup, connect me to the message system! ***???? Now, I finally get the message and can hit the button to delete it and turn off the damn light.

 

Worse yet, what was the message? Six of the seven days I got some generic rambling message from the “Elite host” babbling about nothing in particular. So obnoxious!

[leisuretraveler223]

So that's it for now. Currently back in Massachusetts, where it was 10 below when I got up this morning.... Ouch! Wishing I was back on board. Any questions? Fire away!

[dmp223]

Enjoyable review! Thank you for posting. Got a laugh about your comments on the Oceanview sushi... so true! And I agree with your observations on the timings of some things in the Dailies.. I've encountered a few things listed that didn't even happen and timing differences too... I would imagine that these aren't updated all that often.

 

Harsh returning to these parts and the sub-zero temps... I can't wait to escape this Friday! :)

[Bimmer09]

Thanks for a great, informative, well-written review!

 

Have to agree on Bistro on 5 being a great value for such good food.

 

Lawn Club Grill on the Silhouette- the opposite of your experience with a fun attentive staff.

 

Thanks for the excellent read!

 

Norris

[Clarea]

Thanks, enjoyed the review.

[Eve]

Sailing on the Reflection in a few weeks. Thank you for a comprehensive review that was enjoyable to read. I especially appreciate the information on the molecular bar as I will have a premium alcohol package and was looking forward to having a few drinks there. Better not get my hopes up!!

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Dave85]

Thanks for your review! Enjoyed reading it.

[SAC69]

Thanks for a great, informative, well-written review!

 

Have to agree on Bistro on 5 being a great value for such good food.

 

Lawn Club Grill on the Silhouette- the opposite of your experience with a fun attentive staff.

 

Thanks for the excellent read!

 

Norris

 

BO5 is changing to all sushi in March on Reflection and the price goes up to $15.00 PP.:rolleyes:

[Texed]

Leisure,

 

Thanks for posting. :)

[Newbury newbie]

Great review.

 

Getting us in the mood for our B2B on Reflection in 6 weeks time. :):):)

[drarill]

Great review! thanks for posting, we are going back to the Reflection this summer. We also like BO5 a lot, not happy with the change to an all sushi place :mad:

[pete_coach]

Good review.

We were on the same cruise.

We ate at the MDR every night. In our (10 of us and the surrounding people) the food was very good. A point made by me and others of the food being subjective is true and we thought it was good.

The lunches at the Oceanview was equally good in our opinion. There was significant variety ranging from ethnic cuisine (really enjoyed the Indian curry's and Mexican fare) to roast turkeys and hams and beef. Lots of salads and fruits were always available. Of course the deserts were very good. One thing I did not like was that you could not get a burger or hot dog and fries. They were only available at the Mast snack bar. Lots of folks went here to get their burgers and fries and brought them back to Oceanview. Probably because there are so few tables and chairs at the Mast.

I totally agree with the World Class Bar comments....we went once to a expensive drink that was well so so at best and a very un-enthusiastic bar staff. The only place on the ship that staff seemed uninterested.

The shows were quite good and the last evenings Comedian was hilarious.

I have always complained about the use of, or lack of use of the Sky Lounge. What a great venue. If it opens at all it is rather late at night while it should be open from 6 PM onward.

We have been on a number of Celebrity S Class cruises and enjoyed this itinerary, the ship and, it's amenities just fine.

One complaint, if any is some of the passengers seem to be very entitled. We make noise about young people but really, there are some very entitled "older" folks too. Butting in line, forcing themselves in front to get an elevator, stepping up to the bar and calling for a drink while others are waiting too and, sorry to say this (and I truly apologize but I never experiences this before) but there are some folks with walkers and carts that seem to think they have the right of way regardless where they are. I, and some of my travel mates, were bumped into by theses "drivers". We all stand in line for our Oceanview food and just because you have a cart or walker does not mean you can bump my legs, butt in and get your stuff. Again, I apologize for saying that but I was really quite annoyed at the number of times it happened. If we are older, we should set an example and not behave as bad or worse than the young people you are complaining about.

[funship freddy]

You liked the Sunset on Reflection better. I liked the Sunset on Eclipse better. I loved everything about the Lawn Club Grill. Went three nights. Not only was the food the best but it was a great experience. Sorry you didn't have the same experience. I think Reflection is my favorite ship. 38th cruise coming in 49 days. Allure. :D

[vickykay]

Which restaurant did you go to at orient beach? Thanks.

[leisuretraveler223]

Which restaurant did you go to at orient beach? Thanks.

 

Waikiki Beach

[sp2]

Thanks for the review! We will be on Reflection in 20 days and can't wait!

 

I am curious - what is different about the Sunset Bar on Reflection? I have been on Solstice, Equinox and Silhouette and would like to know how it differs? Is it still a smoking area on one side?

 

Thanks!